Chapter 1

The Rise of Nationalism in Europe

Frederic Sorrieu He was a French artist famous for prints prepared in
1948 that visualized the dream of a world consisting of Democratic and
Social Republics. Nineteenth Century was associated with the rise of
nationalism and nation states.
Nationalism: A feeling of oneness with the society or the state, love and
devotion for the motherland and belief in the political identity of one‟s
country are the basic attributes of nationalism.
Nation State: A state that establishes itself as a separate political and
geographical entity and functions as a complete and sovereign territorial
unit. This concept emerged in 19th century Europe as a result of the
growth of nationalism.
Modern State: A state in which sovereignty is exercised by a centralized
power over a specific territory and population.
Absolutist Government: A system of government wherein limitless powers
are vested in a single person or body. It is a monarchical form of
government in which the ruler is the absolute authority and is not
answerable to anybody.
French Revolution (1789)
It marks the beginning of nationalism. Salient features of the French
Revolution were: France was under absolute monarchy in 1789.

• The Revolution transferred the sovereignty from the monarch to the

French people
.• Ideas of La patrie (the fatherhood) and Le citoyen (the citizen)
adopted.

• New French Flag, the tricolour, adopted replacing the royal standard.

• Estates General elected by citizens and renamed the National

Assembly.

• A centralized political system established

.• Internal custom dues abolished.

• Uniform weights and measures adopted

.• French became the language of the nation.

• French armies moved into Holland, Belgium, Switzerland and Italy in

the 1790s with a promise of liberating the people from their despotic
rulers.

Napoleon (1769-1821)

• Napoleon Ruled France from 1799 to 1815.

• Assumed absolute powers in 1799 by becoming the First Consul.
• Civil Code/Napoleonic Code (1804)
• Established equality before law
• Abolished all privileges based on birth
• Granted the right to property to French citizens
• Simplified administrative divisions
• Abolished feudal system and freed peasants from serfdom
• Removed restrictions on guilds in towns
• Improved transport and communication.
Militarily, Napoleon proved to be an oppressor for the people of the
conquered territories. Taxation and censorship were imposed and
military services were made mandatory.
Europe in the mid-18th Century No nation states because Europeans
never saw themselves as sharing a common identity or culture. E.g., The
Habsburg Empire of Austria–Hungary comprised French, Italian and
German-speaking people.
Europe was broadly divided into two classes during this period namely
Aristocracy :The land owning class.Numerically small, but dominated
Europe, both socially and politically,they Spoke French which was
considered the language of the high society and their families were
connected through marriage.

Peasantry: Tenants and small land owners who worked as serfs.

Cultivated the lands of the aristocratic lords. The growth of trade and
industrial production facilitated the growth of towns and rise of a
commercial class of traders. Consequently, the new conscious, educated,
liberal middle class emerged and popularized nationalism and stood for
the abolition of aristocracy.
Rise of Middle class : The growth of trade and industrial production
facilitated the growth of towns and rise of a commercial class of traders.
Consequently, the new conscious, educated, liberal middle class emerged
and popularized nationalism and stood for the abolition of aristocracy.
Liberal Nationalism : which means Individual freedom, Equality before
law, Government by consent and Freedom of markets.Abolition of state-
imposed restrictions on the movement of goods and capital Liberalism
became the main concern in Europe after the French Revolution because
 • Universal Adult Suffrage was not granted to the people by the
Napoleonic Code.
• Men without property and women were denied the right to vote.
• Women were made subject to the authority of men
• Markets were not free as the 39 confederacies of France had their
own laws which posed problems for the free movement of goods.
• There were no standard weights and measures and no fixed rates of
custom duties, which greatly affected the trade.
Liberalism fused with the French Revolution envisaged the

• End of autocracy and clerical privileges

• Introduction of a constitution and representative government
• Inviolability of private property
• Removal of trade restrictions
• Freedom of markets
Zollverein :A customs union formed in 1834 at the initiative of Prussia. It
abolished tariff barriers and reduced the number of currencies to two
from over thirty.
Conservatism Stands for the preservation of the traditional institutions of
state and society such as the monarchy, the church, social hierarchies and
family along with the modern changes introduced by Napoleon.
Conservatism as a political ideology arose after the defeat of Napoleon in
1815 at the Battle of Waterloo. The conservative regimes

• Were autocratic
• Were intolerant to criticism and dissent
• Adopted the censorship of press for curbing the liberal ideals and
discouraged any questions that challenged their legitimacy
Congress of Vienna (1815):For drawing a new settlement for Europe and
restoring the monarchies that were overthrown by Napoleon for creation
of a new conservative order. The salient features of the treaty were as
follows:

• The Bourbon dynasty restored to power in France.

• France was disposed of its conquered territories.
• Kingdom of Netherlands, which included Belgium, was set up in
the North and Genoa was set up in the South for preventing French
expansion in future.
• Prussia was given new territories, including a portion of Saxony
• Austria got control over Northern Italy.
• Russia got Poland.
• Napoleon‟s confederation of 39 states was not changed.

The Revolutionaries : Upholders of the idea of liberalism and against the

conservative regimes of the 19th century. Many secret societies were
formed whose main aims were:

• Training the revolutionaries and spreading their ideas throughout

Europe.
• Opposing monarchical governments established after the Vienna
Congress of 1815.
• Fighting for liberty and freedom from autocratic rule.
• Emphasizing the idea of creation of nation states.
Giuseppe Mazzini: Italian revolutionary

• Born in 1807
• Became a member of the secret society of the Carbonari.
• 1831: Sent into exile for attempting an upsurge in Liguria.
 • Founder of Young Italy at Marseilles and Young Europe at Berne,
the two secret societies. Believed in the unification of Italy into a
republic.
• Most vociferous enemy of monarchical form of government and
conservative regimes. Metternich described him as “The most
dangerous enemy of our social order”.
The Age of Revolutions (1830-1848): The consolidation of power by the
conservative regime made liberalism and nationalism associated with
revolution in many regions of Europe. Italian and German states, the
provinces of the Ottoman Empire, Ireland and Poland experienced such
revolutions. The revolutionaries comprised professors, school teachers,
clerks and members of the commercial middle class.
July Revolution, France (1830): The Bourbon Kings, coronated after the
Vienna Congress of 1815 were overthrown by liberal revolutionaries.

• Louis Philippe was installed as a constitutional monarch.

• Belgium broke away from the United Kingdom of Netherlands.
Greek Revolution (1830):

• Greek War of Independence Greece was part of the Ottoman

Empire since 15th century
• Growth of nationalism in Europe started Greek‟s struggle for
independence from the Ottoman rule in 1821.
• Support from West European countries. Poets and artists, who
were inspired by the ancient Greek culture and literature, also
supported the revolution. E.g., Lord Byron, the famous English
Poet.
• 1832: The Treaty of Constantinople recognized Greece as an
independent nation.
Romanticism (1830s): A cultural movement that rejected science and
reason and introduced heart and emotions. The concern of the romantics
was to create a sense of shared collective heritage and a common cultural
past for arousing nationalism.
German philosopher and romanticist Johann Gottfried Herder (1744-
1803) believed that true German culture can be discovered only among
common people (das volk) through their practice of flock traditions.
Emphasized on vernacular languages and folklore for conveying their
ideas to illiterate masses.
Nationalistic Feeling (1830s) The sense of recognizing the society and
nation as “we” and the sharing of many traits by its members. Culture with
art and poetry, stories and music played a major role in the shaping and
expression of nationalistic feelings and nation.
Economic Condition of Europe after 1830

• Great economic hardships were experienced in Europe.

• The ratio of the rise of population was larger than that of
employment generation.
• Migration of rural population to cities led to overcrowded slums.
• Small producers in towns (especially textile producing industries)
were often ousted by the import of cheap machine-made goods
from England. Peasants still suffered under the burden of feudal
dues and obligations in some regions of Europe.
• Rise in food prices or a year of bad harvest left the country poorer.
1848, France
Widespread food shortages and widespread unemployment experienced
in Paris. Barricades were made and Louis Philippe was forced to flee.

• National Assembly proclaimed a Republic.

 • Suffrage to all males above 21 was granted.
• The right to work was guaranteed.
• National workshops for providing employment were set up.

1845, Silesia :
Weavers revolted against contractors for the drastic reduction in their
payments. This revolution received scorns and threats alternately and
resulted in the death of eleven weavers.
1848: The Revolution of the Liberals :
A revolution led by the educated middle classes

• Germany, 1848:- Large number of political associations whose

members were professionals, businessmen and prosperous artisans
decided to vote for an all-German National Assembly in Frankfurt.
• 18th May 1848: 831 elected representatives marched to take their
places in the Frankfurt Parliament.
• They drafted a Constitution for a German nation based on
constitutional monarchy. Their demands were rejected by the
Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm IV as he opposed the elected
assembly along with the other monarchs. The parliament
functioned to evade the larger interests of the workers and artisans
as it was largely dominated by middle class members. Ultimately,
troops forcibly disbanded the assembly.
Liberal Movement and Women Rights

In spite of all these efforts by the women, they still were only allowed to
observe the functioning of the Frankfurt parliament. Women opposed
this by founding newspapers, forming political associations and organizing
public meetings and organization and they were denied right to vote.
Consequences of Liberal Movement :
Liberal movements were crushed by the powerful conservative forces.
However, old order could not be restored. Monarchs realized the
importance of granting concessions to the liberal nationalist
revolutionaries for preventing unrest in the society. Serfdom and bonded
labour were abolished both in Habsburg dominions and in Russia.
Hungarians were granted more autonomy in 1867.

Unification of Germany (1866-1871)

In 1848, middle-class Germans tried to unite the different regions of the
German

• Confederation into a nation state under an elected parliament.

• In Prussia, nation building acts were repressed by the combined
forces of the monarchy and the military and were supported by the
landowners (Junkers).
• Prussia took over the leadership of the movement for national
unification.
• Otto Von Bismark, chief minister of Prussia, was the architect of the
leading role of Prussia in the process of nation-building.
• Prussia emerged victorious after fighting three wars over seven years
against the combined forces of Austria, Denmark and France and
the process of unification of Germany was completed.
• On 18th January 1871: The new German empire headed by the
German Emperor Kaiser William I was declared in the Hall of
Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles.
 • The unification of Germany established Prussian dominance in
Europe.
• The New German Empire focused on modernizing the currency,
banking, legal and judicial systems.

Unification of Italy

• A long history of political fragmentation was experienced in Italy.

• Italy during the middle of the nineteenth century was divided into
seven states.
• Only Sardinia-Piedmont was ruled by an Italian princely house.
• The North was under Austrian Habsburgs.
• The centre was under Pope.
• The South was under the Bourbon Kings of Spain.
• Italian language had varieties of dialects; therefore, it was not stable
in its form.
(1) 1859: Sardinia-Piedmont with an alliance with France defeated the
Austrian forces. Large number of people under the leadership of
Giuseppe Garibaldi joined the movement.
(2) 1860: Sardinia-Piedmont‟s forces marched into south Italy and the
Kingdom of the Two Scillies and drove out the Spanish rulers.
(3) 1861: Victor Emanuel was declared as the king of united Italy and
Rome was declared the capital of Italy.
Britain as a Nation
Britain was not a nation state prior to 18th century. The primary
identities were based on ethnicity such as English, Welsh, Scot or Irish.
The steady growth of power made the English nation extend its influence
over the other nations and islands.
1688: England established as a nation state. English parliament seized
power from the monarchy.
1707: The United Kingdom of Great Britain formed with the Act of the
Union between England and Scotland. England dominated Scotland and
Ireland in all spheres. British Parliament was• dominated by English
members.
1801: Ireland was forcibly taken by the British after the failed revolution
led by Wolfe and his United Irishmen (1798).
Finally a new “British Nation”was formed with her various symbols such
as the British flag (Union Jack), the national anthem (“God Save Our
Noble King”) and the English language

Visualising the Nation

• Nation was personified in the female form by the artists of the 19th
century.
• Female allegories such as that of liberty, justice and republic were
invented.
• In France, the idea of a people”s nation was the christened
Marianne. She was characterized by the ideas of liberty and
republic.
• In Germany, Germania became the allegory of the nation.
• In the 19th century,National turned into imperialism.

The tension in Balkans after 1871

The Balkans comprised modern-day Romania, Bulgaria, Albania,
Greece, Macedonia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovenia, Serbia and
Montenegro. The disintegration of the ruling Ottoman Empire and the
spread of the ideas of romantic nationalism made this area explosive. The
Balkan States were fiercely jealous of each other and wanted to gain more
territory at the expense of the other. There was intense rivalry among the
European powers over trade, colonies,naval might and military might.
European powers such as Russia, Germany, England and Austro-Hungary
were keen on opposing the hold of other powers over the Balkans for
extending their own area of control. All these events ultimately triggered
the First World War (1914).
Questions wih answers
Ques.1. Write a short note on
I. Guiseppe Mazzini.
II. Count Camillo de Cavour
III. The Greek war of independence
IV. Frankfurt parliament
V. The role of women in nationalist struggles
Ans. I. Giuseppe Mazzini
Giuseppe Mazzini was an Italian revolutionary. He was born in 1807. He
became a member of the secret society of the Carbonari. When he was 24
years old, he was sent into exile in 1831 for attempting a revolution in
Liguria. After that, he founded two more underground societies; first
Young Italy in Marseilles and then Young Europe in Berne. Mazzini
believed that God had intended nations to be the natural units of
mankind. So Italy had to be forged into a single unified republic instead
of being a patchwork of small state kingdoms. Following in the footsteps
of Mazzini, many secret societies were set up Germany, France,
Switzerland and Poland. The Conservatives feared Mazzini.
Ans. II. Count Camillo de Cavour
Count Camillo de Cavour was the leading figure in the movement towards
unification of Italy. He was the Prime Minister of Piedmont-Sardinia. He
was neither a revolutionary nor a democrat. He was like many other
wealthy and educated members of the Italian elite. He too was more
fluent in French than in Italian. He made a tactful diplomatic alliance with
France and thus succeeded in defeating the Austrian forces in 1859. Apart
from regular troops, many armed volunteers under the leadership of
Giuseppe Garibaldi joined the fray. In 1860, they marched into South
Italy and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. They succeeded in winning the
support of the local peasants and drove out the Spanish rulers. Victor
Emmanuel II was proclaimed king of united Italy in 1861. Cavour
became the first Prime Minister of the unified Italy.
Ans. III. The Greek war of independence
The Greek war of independence mobilized the nationalist feelings among
the educated elite across Europe. The struggle for independence among
the Greeks began in 1821. The nationalists in Greece got support from
many Greeks who were living in exile. Moreover, they also got support
from many West Europeans who sympathized with the ancient Greek
culture. Poets and artists mobilized public opinion to support this struggle
against the Muslim empire. It is important to note that Greece had been a
part of the Ottoman Empire. Finally, the Treaty of Constantinople of
1832 recognized Greece as an independent nation.
Ans IV. Frankfurt parliament
In German regions, there were a large number of political associations
whose members were middle class professionals, businessmen and
prosperous artisans. They came together in the city of Frankfurt and
decided to vote for an all-German National Assembly. On18 May 1848,
831 elected representatives took out a festive procession to take part in
the Frankfurt parliament which was convened in the Church of St. Paul.
They drafted a constitution for a German nation. This German nation
was to be headed by a monarchy subject to a parliament. Friedrich
Wilhelm IV, King of Prussia was offered the crown on these terms. But
he rejected the offer and joined other monarchs to oppose the elected
assembly.

Ans V. The role of women in nationalist struggles

Women also participated in large numbers in the liberal movement. In
spite of that, they were denied the voting rights during the election of the
Assembly. When the Frankfurt parliament convened in the Church of St
Paul, women were allowed only as observers to stand in the visitors’
gallery

Answer the following questions:

Ques.1. What steps did the French revolutionaries take to create a sense
of collective identity among the French people?
Ans. The French revolutionaries took many important steps to create a
sense of collective identity among the French people which were:
1. Ideas of la patrie (the fatherland) and le citoyen (the citizen)
emphasizing the notion of a united community enjoying equal rights
under a constitution.
2. A new French flag, a tricolor replaced the royal standard.
3. The Estates General was renamed the National Assembly and was
elected by a group of active citizens.
4. New hymns, oaths and martyrs commemorated in the name of the
nation.
 5. A central administrative system made uniform laws for the entire
nation.
6. Discouraging regional dialects and promoting French as a common
language of the nation.

Ques. 2. Who were Marianne and Germania? What was the importance
of the way in which they were portrayed?

Answer: Marianne was the name given to the French nation; which
was projected as the female figure. Similarly, Germania was the
name given to the German motherland. Marianne is a popular
Christian name for a woman. Her characteristics were drawn from
those of Liberty and Republic; the red cap, the tricolor, the
cockade. Her statues were erected in public squares and her
images were marked on coins and stamps; to persuade the people
to identify with it. Germania wears a crown of oak leaves. The
German oak stands for heroism.

Ques.3. Briefly trace the process of German unification.

Answer: In the 1800s, nationalist feelings were strong in the hearts of the
middle-class Germans.
They united in 1848 to create a nation-state out of the numerous German
States. But the monarchy and the military got together to repress them
and they gained support from the landowners of Prussia (the Junkers) too.
Prussia soon became the leader of German unification movement. Its
Chief Minister Otto von Bismarck was the architect of the process with
support from Prussian army and Prussian bureaucracy. The unification
process was completed after Prussia won wars with Austria, Denmark and
France over seven years time.
In January 1871, the Prussian king, William I, was proclaimed the
German Emperor in a ceremony held at Versailles.
Ques.4. What changes did Napoleon introduce to make the
administrative system more efficient in the territories ruled by him?
Answer: Napoleon brought following changes to make an efficient
administrative system:

• The Civil Code of 1804; which is commonly known as the

Napoleonic Code abolished all privileges based on birth.
• It also established equality before the law and secured the right to
property.
• Even in those territories which came under his control; Napoleon
began to introduce many reforms as he did in France.
• He simplified the administrative divisions in the Dutch Republic,
Switzerland, Italy and Germany.
• He abolished the feudal system and peasants could be freed from
serfdom and manorial dues.
• Guild restrictions were removed in towns. Transport and
communication systems were improved.

Ques.5. Explain what is meant by the 1848 revolution of the liberals.

What were the political, social and economic ideas supported by the
liberals?

Answer: The 1848 revolution of the liberals refers to the various national
movements pioneered byeducated middle classes alongside the revolts of
the poor, unemployed and starvingpeasants and workers in Europe.While
in countries like France, food shortages and widespread unemployment
during 1848 led to popular uprisings, in other parts of Europe (such as
Germany, Italy, Poland and the Austro-Hungarian Empire), men and
women of the liberal middle classes came together to voice their demands
for the creation of nation-states based on parliamentary principles.The
political, social and economic ideas supported by the liberals were:
 1. Politically, they demanded constitutionalism with national
unification, nation-state with written constitution and parliamentary
administration.
2. Socially, They wanted to rid society of its class-based partialities and
birth rights. Serfdom and bonded labour had to be abolished.
3. Economically they demanded freedom of markets and right to
property. Abolition of state imposed restrictions on the movements
of goods and capital.

Ques.6. Choose three examples to show the contribution of culture to

the growth of nationalism in Europe.

Answer: Three examples to show the contribution of culture to the growth

of nationalism in Europe were:
• Romanticism was a European cultural movement aimed at developing
national unity by creating a sense of shared heritage and common
history. The Romantic artists’ emphasis on emotions, intuition and
mystical feelings gave shape and expression to nationalist sentiments.
The strength of art in promoting nationalism is well exemplified in the
role played by European poets and artists in mobilising public opinion
to support the Greeks in their struggle to establish their national
identity.
• Folk songs, dances and poetry contributed to popularising the spirit of
nationalism and patriotic fervour in Europe. Collecting and recording
the different forms of folk culture was important for building a national
consciousness. Being a part of the lives of the common people, folk
culture enabled nationalists to carry the message of nationalism to a
large and diverse audience. The Polish composer Karol Kurpinski
celebrated and popularized the Polish nationalist struggle through his
operas and music, turning folk dances like the polonaise and mazurka
into nationalist symbols.
• Language also played a distinctive role in developing nationalist feelings
in Europe. An example of this is how during Russian occupation, the
use of Polish came to be seen as a symbol of struggle against Russian
dominance. During this period, Polish language was forced out of
schools and Russian language was imposed everywhere. Following the
defeat of an armed rebellion against Russian rule in 1831, many
members of the clergy in Poland began using language as a weapon of
national resistance. They did so by refusing to preach in Russian, and
by using Polish for Church gatherings and religious instruction. The
emphasis on the use of vernacular language, the language of the masses,
helped spread the message of national unity.

Ques.7. Through a focus on any two countries, explain how nations

developed over the nineteenth century.

Answer:
The development of the German and Italian nation states in the
nineteenth century.
1. Political fragmentation:
Till the middle of the nineteenth century, the present-day nations of
Germany and Italy were fragmented into separate regions and
kingdoms ruled by different princely houses.
2. Revolutionary uprisings:
Nineteenth-century Europe was characterised by both popular
uprisings of the masses and revolutions led by the educated, liberal
middle classes. The middle classes belonging to the different
 German regions came together to form an all-German National
Assembly in 1848. However, on facing opposition from the
aristocracy and military, and on losing its mass support base, it was
forced to disband. In the Italian region, during the 1830s,
revolutionaries like Giuseppe Mazzini sought to establish a unitary
Italian Republic. However, the revolutionary uprisings of 1831 and
1848 failed to unite Italy.
3. Unification with the help of the army:
After the failure of the revolutions, the process of German and
Italian unification was continued by the aristocracy and the army.
Germany was united by the Prussian chief minister Otto von
Bismarck with the help of the Prussian army and bureaucracy. The
German empire was proclaimed in 1871.
The Italian state of Sardinia-Piedmont played a role similar to that played
by Prussia. Count Camillo de Cavour (the Chief Minister) led the
movement to unite the separate states of nineteenth-century Italy with the
help of the army and an alliance with France. The regions annexed by
Giuseppe Garibaldi and his Red Shirts joined with the northern regions to
form a united Italy. The Italian nation was proclaimed in 1861. The Papal
States joined in 1870.

Ques.8. How was the history of nationalism in Britain unlike the rest
of Europe?

Answer: The history of nationalism in Britain unlike the rest of Europe

because:
In Britain the formation of the nation-state was not the result of a sudden
upheaval or revolution.
 1. The primary identities of the people who inhabited the British Isles
were ethnic ones – such as English, Welsh, Scot or Irish.
2. The Act of Union (1707) between England and Scotland resulted in
the formation of the ‘United Kingdom of Great Britian’ meant that
England was able to impose its influence on Scotland. Scotland’s
distinctive culture and political institutions were systematically
suppressed.
3. The Scottish highlanders were forbidden to speak their Gaelic
language or wear their national dress and large numbers were
forcibly driven out of their homeland.
4. The English helped the Protestants of Ireland to establish their
dominance over a largely Catholic country. Catholic revolts against
British dominance were suppressed. Ireland was forcibly
incorporated into the United Kingdom in 1801.
5. The symbols of the new Britain – the British flag, the national
anthem, the English language were actively promoted and the older
nations survived only as subordinate partners in this union.

Question 5. Why did nationalist tensions emerge in the Balkans?

Answer:
Nationalist tensions emerged in the Balkans because of the spread of
ideas of romantic nationalism as also the disintegration of the Ottoman
Empire that had previously ruled over this area. The different Slavic
communities in the Balkans began to strive for independent rule. They
were jealous of each other and every state wanted more territory, even at
the expense of others. Also, the hold of imperial power over the Balkans
made the situation worse. Russia, Germany, England, Austro-Hungary all
wanted more control over this area. These conflicts ultimately led to the
First World War in 1914.
 Chapter 1
Nationalism in India
Preface :
Nationalism: It is a belief system which instills a sense of common identity
among the members of a nation. National flag, national symbol, national
anthem, etc. play an important role in developing and strengthening the
idea of nationalism.

The First World War, Khilafat And Non-Cooperation

Effects of First World War: The War led to a huge increase in defence
expenditure. This was financed by war loans and by increasing taxes.
(1) Customs duties were raised and income tax was introduced to raise
extra revenue. Prices of items increased during the war years. The
prices doubled between 1913 and 1918. The common people were
the worst sufferers because of price rise.
(2) Forced recruitment of rural people in the army was another cause of
widespread anger among people.
(3) Crop failure in many parts of India resulted in acute shortage of
food. Influenza epidemic further aggravated the problem. According
to 1921 census, about 12 to 13 million people died because of
famines and epidemic.

Satyagraha: A novel method to win

Mahatma Gandhi advocated a novel method of mass agitation; called

satyagraha. This method was based on the idea that if someone is
fighting for a true cause, there is no need to take recourse to physical
force to fight the oppressor. Gandhiji believed that a satyagrahi could
win a battle through non-violence, i.e. without being aggressive or
revengeful.
Some early satyagraha movements organized by Gandhi:
 1. Indigo movement in champaran in 1916
2. Peasants’ movements in Kheda in 1917
3. Cotton Mill workers’ movement in Ahemdabad

The Rowlatt Act(1919): A controversial law

The Rowlatt Act was passed by the Imperial Legislative Council in

1919. The Indian members did not support the Act, but it was passed;
nevertheless. The Act gave enormous powers to the government to
repress political activitiesand imprisonment of political prisoners
without any court trial for two years.

Satyagraha against the Rowlatt Act

On 6th April, 1919; Gandhiji launched a nationwide satyagraha against
the proposed Rowlatt Act.which was to be started on 6th of april by
declaring hartal The British administration decided to clamp down on the
nationalists. Several local leaders were arrested. Mahatma Gandhi was
barred from entering Delhi.
On 10th April 1919; in Amritsar; the police fired upon a peaceful
procession. This provoked widespread attacks on government
establishments. Martial law was imposed in Amritsar and the command of
the area was given to General Dyer.
Jallialnwalan Bagh Massacre: On 13th April ,The infamous Jallianwalla
Bagh massacre took place; the day on which Baisakhi is celebrated in
Punjab. A crowd of villagers came to participate in a fair in Jallianwalla
Bagh. This was enclosed from all sides with narrow entry points. General
Dyer blocked the exit points and opened fire on the crowd. Hundreds of
people were killed in the incident. Public reaction to the incident took a
violent turn in many north Indian towns because things took highly violent
turn. Mahatma Gandhi called off the movement as did not want violence
to continue.

Khilafat Movement

Mahatma Gandhi felt the need of a more broad-based movement in

India. He was convinced that it could be only possible by bringing the
Hindus and Muslims on a common platform and the Khilafat issue gave
him the opportunity to bring the Hindus and Muslims on a common
platform.Tthat’s why a Khilafat committed was formed in Bombay in
March 1919 to defend the Khalifa This committee had leaders like the
brothers Muhammad Ali and Shaukat Ali. They also wanted Mahatma
Gandhi to take up the cause to build a united mass action so Gandhi
decided to extend his support to the Khilafat committee to bring Hindu-
Muslim together.so at the Culcutta session (sep,1920) Gandhi declared to
launch Non-cooperation movement in the support of Khilafat and Swaraj.

Non-cooperation Movement
Gandhiji believed that if Indians begin to refuse to cooperate, the
British rulers will have no other way than to leave India.
Some of the acitivies of non-cooperation movement:

(1) Surrender the titles which were awarded by the British

government.
 (2) Boycott civil services, army, police, courts, legislative councils
and schools.
(3) Boycott foreign goods.
(4) Liquor shops picketed
(5) Burn foreign cloths and products

(1) The Movement in the Towns:

The movement started with good participation from the middle-class

in the cities. Foreign goods were boycotted, liquor shops picketed, and
foreign cloth burnt in huge bonfires. The import of foreign cloth
halved between 1921 and 1922, its value dropping from Rs 102 crore
to Rs 57 crore. The boycott of foreign cloths helped in increasing the
demand of cloths made in India.

Reasons for Slowdown of Movement:

Boycott of British institutions posed a problem of lack of alternative

Indian institutions. Such institutions were slow to come up. Students
and teachers began coming back schools. Similarly, lawyers resumed
their work in the courts and since Khadi was more expensive than
mill-made cloth. The poor people could not afford to buy khadi.

(2) The movement in the Countryside: village

Awadh:

The peasants’ movement in Awadh was led by Baba Ramchandra. He

was a sanyasi who had earlier worked in Fiji as an indentured labourer.
Oudh Kisan Sabha was set up by October. It was headed by Jawaharlal
Nehru, Baba Ramchandra but many place people indulged in violence
and stopped paying rents by invoking the name of the Mahatma

(3) The movement in Forests:Guden Andhra Pradesh Reserved

Tribal peasants gave their own interpretation of Mahatma Gandhi and
the idea of swaraj. Many rebels from the tribal areas became non-
violent and often carried guerilla warfare against the British officials
under the leadership of Alluri Sitaram Raju.

(4) The movement in plantations

As per the Indian Emigration Act of 1859, The plantation workers

were not permitted to leave the tea gardens without permission. When
the news of Non-Cooperation Movement spread to the plantations,
many workers began to defy the authorities. They left plantations and
headed towards their homes. But they got stranded on the way
because of a railway and steamer strike. They were caught by the
police and brutally beaten up.

By the end of 1921, the movement was turning violent at many places.
Gandhiji decided to withdraw the non-cooperation movement in
February 1922.

1924 Charui chaura 22 polica men burnt alive

Simon Commission

The Simon Commission arrived in India in 1928 to look into the

functioning of the constitutional system in India and suggest changes
It was greeted with the slogan ‘Go back Simon’. In October 1929,
Lord Irwin announced a vague offer of ‘dominion status’ for India but
it was rejected by Congress party.
Salt March:Beginning Civil Disobedience Movement

The Salt March marked the beginning of the Civil Disobedience

Movement. The Salt March or Dandi March was started by Gandhiji on
12th March 1930. He was accompanied by 78 volunteers. They walked
for 24 days to cover a distance of 240 miles from Sabaramati to Dandi
and under this movement Foreign cloth was boycotted. Peasants refused
to pay revenue. Village officials resigned. Tribal people violated forest
laws.

The government’s repression to civil discbedience was quite brutal. Even

women and children were beaten up. About 100,000 people were
arrested.and when things began to take a violent turn, Mahatma Gandhi
called off the movement. He signed a pact with Irwin on 5th March 1931.
This was called the Gandhi-Irwin Pact. Gandhiji went to London in
December 1931. The negotiations broke down and Gandhiji had to
return with disappointment. By 1934, the movement had lost its
momentum.

How difference people of society saw the movement

(1) The Rich farmers : For the rich farmers like Jats of UP and
Patiodars of Gujrat, the fight for swaraj was a struggle against high
 revenues. When the movement was called off in 1931; without the
revenue rates being revised; the farmers were highly disappointed.

(2) The poor farmers: The small tenants just wanted the unpaid rent
to the landlord to be remitted. They often joined the radical
movements which were led by Socialists and Communists

(3) Industrialists: The Indian merchants and industrialists were

against the colonial policies which restricted their business
activities. They wanted an environment which could allow the
business to flourish. . For the businessmen, swaraj meant an end
to oppressive colonial policies.

(4) Industrial Workers: The industrial workers showed lukewarm

response to the Civil Disobedience Movement. Since
industrialists were closer to the Congress, workers kept a
distance from the movement

Women’s Participation

Women also participated in the Civil Disobedience Movement in large

numbers. However, most of the women were from high-caste families
in the urban areas and from rich peasant households in the rural areas.
But for a long time, the Congress was reluctant to give any position of
authority to women within the organization. The Congress was just
keen on the symbolic presence of women.

The Limits Of Civil Disobedience

 (1) Participation of Dalits:Since many dalit leaders wanted a different
political solution to the problems of the dalit community. They
demanded reserved seats in educational institutions and separate
electorate for dalits. Dalit participation in the Civil Disobedience
Movement was limited.
(2) Participation of Muslims : After the decline of the Non-
Cooperation-Khilafat Movement, a large section of Muslims became
alienated from the Congress. From the mid-1920s, the Congress was
more visibly associated with the Hindu religious nationalist groups.

The Sense Of Collective Belonging

The united struggles for independence helped in building the sense of

collective belonging. Additionally, a variety of cultural processes also
captured the spirit of nationalism.

(1) Nation Depicted in Images: The identity of the nation is most

often symbolised in a figure or image; with which people can
identify the nation. The image of Bharat Mata was the pictorial
representation of the mother land
(2) Songs and folklore: ‘Vande Mataram’ the national song was
written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay in 1870s. This was
sung during the Swadeshi movement in Bengal. Different artists
projected their own version of Bharat Mata.Many nationalist
leaders took help of folk tales to spread the idea of nationalism
(3) The National flag : The national flag which we see today has
evolved through various stages. A tricolor (red, green and
yellow) was used during the Swadeshi movement. There were
eight lotuses on it which depicted the eight provinces of British
India. There was a crescent moon on the flag which represented
 Hindus and Muslims. Gandhji had designed the Swaraj flag by
1921. It was also a tricolor (red, green and white) and there was
a spinning wheel in the centre.
(4) Reinterpretation of History : Many indian felt that it was
important to interpret the history from an Indian perspective.
They wanted to glorify the rich past of India so that the Indians
could feel proud of their history.

Questions and answers

Write in brief
Question 1. Explain:
(a)Why growth of nationalism in the colonies is linked to an anti-colonial
movement.
Answer:
(a) Colonisation affected people’s freedom, and nationalist sentiments
surged during the process of struggle against imperial domination. The
sense of oppression and exploitation became a common bond for people
from different walks of life, and this resulted in the growth of nationalist
ideals. Thus, growth of nationalism in the colonies is linked to anti-
colonial movements.
b) How the First World War helped in the growth of the National
Movement in India.
Answer:
(b)During the First World War, the British army conducted forced
recruitment from rural areas in India. To finance the defence
expenditure, high custom duties and income taxes were imposed. Also,
during 1918-19 and 1920-21, crops failed in many parts of India, thereby
resulting in acute food shortages. All this caused extensive anger and
opposition against the British colonial rule, and the national movement of
India headed towards a stronger, more definitive direction.
c) Why Indians were outraged by the Rowlatt Act.
Answer:
(c)The Rowlatt Act was passed hurriedly through the Imperial Legislative
Council despite opposition from Indian members. It gave the government
autocratic powers to repress political activities besides allowing it to detain
political prisoners without a trial, for two years. The Indian were outraged
by this act as it was clearly undemocratic and oppressive, and hurt national
sentiments and dignity.
d) Why Gandhiji decided to withdraw the Non-Cooperation Movement.
Answer:
(d)Gandhiji decided to withdraw the Non-Cooperation Movement due to
various incidents of violence perpetrated by the masses, especially the
Chauri Chaura incident in 1922 where the people clashed with the police,
setting a police-station on fire. Gandhiji felt that the people were not yet
ready for a mass struggle, and that satyagrahis needed to be properly
trained for non-violent demonstrations.
Question 2. What is meant by the idea of satyagraha?
Answer:
Satyagraha was a novel method of mass agitation. The idea of Satyagraha
emphasized upon the power of truth and the need to search for truth. It
suggested that if the cause was true and if the struggle was against injustice,
then physical force was not necessary to fight the oppressor.
Through non-violent methods a Satyagraha could appeal the conscience
of the oppressor by the power of truth, which was bound to win.
Question 3. Write a newspaper report on:
a) The Jallianwala Bagh massacre
Answer:
a) On 13th April 1919, a large crowd gathered in the enclosed ground of
Jallianwala Bagh – some to protest against the British government’s
repressive measures, others to attend the annual Baishakhi Fair. These
people were unaware of the imposition of Marshal Law in the city.
General Dyer, the Commander, blocked the exit points from the Bagh
and opened fire upon the innocent citizens. Dyer’s intention was to
produce a ‘moral effect’ and terrorize satyagrahis. Hundreds of innocent
people including women and children were killed and wounded due to
this indiscriminate firing by the British soldiers, which ultimately led to
nation-wide outrage. JallianwalaBagh incident was the most brutal incident
in the History of India.
b) The Simon Commission
Answer:
b) The Simon Commission was constituted by the Tory Government in
Britain, under Sir John Simon. The objective of the Commission was to
look into the functioning of the constitutional system in India and suggest
some constitutional changes. But nationalists in India opposed the
Commission because it had not a single Indian member. Therefore, when
the Simon Commission arrived in India in 1928, it was greeted with the
slogan “Go Back Simon”. All parties, including Congress and the Muslim
league, participated in the demonstrations.
Question 4. Compare the images of Bharat Mata in this chapter with the
image of Germania in Chapter 1.
Answer:
∙∙ The image of Germania was the symbol of German nation whereas; the
image of Bharat Mata was the symbol of Indian nation.
∙∙Both images inspired nationalists who worked very hard to unify their
respective countries and to attain a liberal nation.
∙∙The image of Bharat Mata is different from that of Germania in the
sense that former reflects the religious basis of its making.
∙∙The image of Bharat Mata painted by Abanindranath Tagore is bestowed
with learning, food, clothing and some ascetic quality also. Another
painting of Bharat Mata in which we find Mata holding Trishul and
standing beside a lion and an elephant – symbols of power and authority.
This image appears to be more akin to the image of Germania where she
holds a sword and a shield.

Discuss Project
Question 1. List all the different social groups which joined the Non-
Cooperation Movement of 1921.Then choose any three and write about
their hopes and struggles to show why they joined the movement.
Answer:
The different social groups that joined the Non-Cooperation Movement
of 1921 were the urban middle class comprising lawyers, teachers and
headmasters, students, peasants, tribals and workers.
∙∙The middle class joined the movement because the boycott of foreign
goods would make the sale of their textiles and handlooms go up.
∙∙The peasants took part in the movement because they hoped they would
be saved from the oppressive landlords, high taxes taken by the colonial
government.
∙∙ Plantation workers took part in the agitation hoping they would get the
right to move freely in and outside the plantations and get land in their
own villages.
Question 2. Discuss the Salt March to make clear why it was an effective
symbol of resistanceagainst colonialism.
Answer:
The Salt March was an effective symbol of resistance against colonialism
because it was done in revolt against a commodity- salt, used by the rich
and the poor alike. The tax on salt, and the government monopoly over
its production was a severely oppressive administrative move. The Salt
March was effective also because Gandhiji met a large number of
commoners during the march and he taught them the true meaning of
swaraj and non-violence. By peacefully defying a law and making salt
against government orders, Gandhiji set forth an example to the whole
nation of how the oppressor could be confronted in a non-violent
manner. This also led to the Civil Disobedience Movement in 1930.
Question 3. Imagine you are a woman participating in the Civil
Disobedience Movement. Explain what the experience meant to your life.
Answer:
I was very happy to participate in the Civil Disobedience
Movement because I understood that I have to serve the nation in
whatever capacity I could. I had heard Gandhiji speaking and asking us to
participate in this movement. Inspired by him, I also offered Satyagraha.
Picketed liquor shops and shops selling foreign cloth and also courted
arrest. I felt empowered by these activities and felt that women also can
help the men actively in the ultimate goal of achieving independence from
the British.

Question 4. Why did political leaders differ sharply over the question of
separate electorates?
Answer:
Political leaders differed sharply over the question of separate electorates
because of differences in opinion. While those supporting the cause of
minorities and the dalits believed that only political empowerment would
resolve their social backwardness, others like Gandhiji thought that
separate electorates would further slow down the process of their
integration into society. Also, it was feared that the system of separate
electorates would gradually divide the country into numerous fragments
because every community or class would then ask for separate
representations.
 Making of a Global World

The various countries of the world are interconnected through trade and
through exchange of thoughts and cultures. The interconnectedness has
increased dramatically in recent times but the world was also
interconnected even during the days of Indus Valley Civilisation.

Silk Route
• The trade route which linked China to the western world and to
other countries is called Silk Route. There were many Silk
Routes. The Silk Routes existed before the Christian Era, and
persisted till the fifteenth century.
• Chinese potteries travelled from China to other countries through
the Silk Route. Similarly, gold and silver travelled from Europe to
Asia through this route.
• Religions; like Christianity, Islam and Buddhism travelled to
different parts of the world through the Silk Route.
Food Travels:
(1) Noodles travelled from China to different parts of the world. The
sevian; which are used in India are localized form of noodle.
Similarly, spaghetti of Italy is the European version of noodles.
(2) Many common food of today; like potato, chillies, tomato, maize,
soya, groundnut and sweet potatoes were introduced in Europe after
Christopher Columbus accidentally discovered the American
continents.
(3) Potato brought dramatic changes for the life of people of Europe.
Because of introduction of potato, the people in Europe could eat
better and could live longer.

(The Potato famine : The peasants of Ireland became so dependent on

potato that when disease destroyed the potato crop in the mid-1840s,
hundreds of thousands died due to starvation. This famine is known as
Irish Famine)

Conquest, Disease and Trade

Conquest : The discovery of new sea route not only helped in expanding
the trade but also in European conquest over other parts of the world.
America had vast reserves of minerals and there was abundant crop in this
continent. The food and minerals from America transformed the lives of
people in other parts of the world.
Disease : By the mid-sixteenth century, the Portuguese and Spanish
colonization of America began in a decisive way. But the conquest could
not be facilitated because of arms and ammunition but because of a
disease. Europeans had been exposed to small pox and hence they had
developed immunity against this disease. But the Americans had been
isolated from the world and they had no immunity against small pox.
When the Europeans reached there, they carried the germs of small pox
alongwith them. The disease wiped off the whole communities in certain
parts of America. And thus, the Europeans could easily get control of the
Americas.
Trade: Till the nineteenth century, Europe was suffering from many
problems; like poverty, diseases and religious conflicts. Many religious
dissenters fled to America for the fear of prosecution. Those people
utilised the opportunities in America
The Nineteenth Century (1815 – 1914)
The world had changed dramatically during the nineteenth century.
There were changes in social, political, economic and technological
 factors in much complex way during this period. The changes altered
the external relations beyond recognition.
Economists identify three types of flows within international economic
exchanges. These are as follows:
• Flow of Trade
• Flow of labour
• Flow of capital
A World Economy Takes Shape
• Changing pattern of food production and consumption in
Europe: Traditionally, countries liked to be self sufficient in food.
But self sufficiency in food meant a low quality of life for the
people of Britain.
• There was immense growth of population of Britain during
eighteenth century. Due to this, the demand for food had
increased exponentially. Under pressure from the landed groups,
the government restricted the imports of corn. This further
aggravated the food prices in Britain. The industrialists and urban
dwellers forced the government to abolish the Corn Laws.
Effects of abolition of Corn Laws:
• Abolition of Corn Laws meant that food could be imported at
much cheaper rate than at what it could be produced in Britain.
British farm produce was unable to compete with cheaper
imports.
• Vast areas of land were left uncultivated and a large number of
people became unemployed. People migrated to cities; in large
numbers; in search of work. Many people also migrated overseas.
Many people also migrated overseas.
• Falling food prices resulted in increased demand for food in
Britain. Moreover, industrialization also helped in increasing the
 income of the people. This necessitated more import of food
items into Britain. To fulfill the demand, large tracts of land were
cleared in Eastern Europe, America, Russia and Australia.
• The foodgrains also needed to be supplied to the ports. For this,
railway lines were to be laid so that the agricultural hubs could be
connected to the ports. Moreover, new habitations also had to
come up in agricultural hubs. For all these activities, capital
flowed from financial centres; such as London; to these places.
• There was shortage of labour in Americas and Australia. The
demand for workforce resulted in large scale migration of people
to these places. Nearly 50 million people migrated from Europe
to America and Australia during the nineteenth century.
• All over the world, about 150 million people migrated to different
placeBy 1890s, a global agricultural economy had taken shape.
This was accompanied by complex changes in labour movement,
capital flow and technological changes.
Role of Technology
• Technology definitely played an important role in globalizing the
world economy during this period.
• Some of the major technological innovations were the railways,
steamship and telegraph.
• Railways helped in connecting the hinterland to the ports.
• Steamships helped in transporting goods in bulk across the
Atlantic.
• Telegraph helped in speeding up the communication and thus
facilitated better economic transaction.
Trade in Meat:
• Trade in meat shows a very good example of benefit of
technology on the life of common people. Till 1870s, live animals
 were shipped from America to Europe. Shipping live animals had
its own problems. They took more space and many animals
either died or became sick during the transit. Due to this, meat
remained a luxury item for most of the Europeans. ury item for
most of the Europeans.
• Arrival of “Refrigeration technology” changed the picture. Now,
animals could be slaughtered in America and processed meat
could be shipped to Europe. This helped in better utilization of
space in the ships. This also helped in better availability of meat
for the Europeans and thus prices fell. Now, even the common
people could afford to eat meat on a regular basis.
• Better availability of food promoted social peace within the
countries. People of Britain were now more receptive to imperial
ambitions of the country.

Late Nineteenth Century and Colonialism

• While the expansion of trade improved the quality of life of many
Europeans; it had negative implications for people of the
colonized countries.
• When you will carefully observe the modern map of Africa, it
would appear that most of the boundaries are straight lines. It
appears as if someone had deliberately made those straight lines.
• In 1885, the big European powers met in Berlin and demarcated
the African continent for respective powers. That is how
boundaries of most of the African countries appear as straight
lines.

Africa : Africa was the land of vast resources of land and minerals.
Europeans had come to Africa to make fortune out of mining and
plantations. But they faced a huge scarcity of labour. There was another
 problem and that was that the local people were not willing to work in
spite of being offered wages. In fact, Africa was a sparsely populated
continent and people’s needs could be easily met with the available
resources. There simply was no need to work for wages.
The Europeans applied various ways to force the people to work. Some
of them are as follows:

• Heavy taxes were imposed which could only be paid by

working on plantations and in mines.
• Inheritance laws were changed and only one member of the
family was allowed to inherit land. This forced others into
the labour market.
• Mineworkers were confined to the campus and were not
allowed to move freely.

Arrival of Rinderpest:
Rinderpest arrived in Africa in the late 1880s. It came with the horses
which were imported from British Asia. Those horses came as
reinforcements for Italian soldiers who were invading Eritrea in East
Africa. Rinderpest spread in the African continent like the forest fire.
It reached to western coast of Africa by 1892 and within five years
after that, it reached to southernmost tip of the continent. Rinderpest
wiped off 90% of the cattle population of Africa during this period.
• Loss of cattle meant loss of livelihood for the Africans. They had
no choice but to work as labourers in plantations and mines. Thus,
a cattle disease enabled the Europeans to colonise Africa.
Indentured Labour Migration from India
• Indentured labour is a bonded labour who is hired on contract
for a specific employer for a specific period of time.
• Many poor Indians from modern day Bihar, Uttar Pradesh,
central India and dry districts of Tamil Nadu became indentured
labours.
 • These people were mainly sent to the Caribbean Islands,
Mauritius and Fiji. Many of them were also sent to Ceylon and
Malaya.
• In India, many indentured labours went to work in tea plantations
of Assam.
• The agents often gave false promises and the workers were not
even told about the place they were heading for.
• The condition in the foreign land was quite horrible for the
workers. They did not have any legal rights and had to work
under tortuous conditions.
• Form the 1900s, the Indian nationalists began to oppose the
system of indentured labour.
• The practice was finally abolished in 1921
Indian Entrepreneurs Abroad
• Shikaripuri shroffs and Nattukottai Chettiars were among the
groups of bankers and traders from India.
• They financed export agriculture in Southern and Central Asia.
• They had their own sophisticated system of money transfer to
different parts of the world and even in India.
• Indian traders and moneylenders also ventured into Africa
alongwith the European colonizers.
• The Hyderabadi Sindhi traders ventured even beyond European
colonies.
• By 1860s, they established flourishing emporia at busy ports
around the world.
Indian Trade, Colonialism and the Global System
• Historically, fine cotton from India was exported to Europe. After
industrialization, the local manufacturers forced the British
government to impose a ban on Indian imports.
• This resulted in British manufactured cotton textiles flooding the
Indian market. The share of cotton textiles in Indian export was
30% in 1800. It declined to 15% by 1815 and to 3% by 1870s. But
from 1812 to 1871, the export of raw cotton increased from 5% to
35%.
• During this period, Indigo emerged as a major export item from
India. Opium was the largest exported item from India and it was
mainly exported to China.
• Although export of raw materials and food grains from India to
Britain grew manifold but import of finished goods from Britain
also increased.
• This resulted in a situation in which Britain was having the trade
surplus. In other words, the Balance of Payment was in Britain’s
favour.
• Income from the Indian market was utilised by Britain to serve its
other colonies and also to pay ‘home charges’ for its officials who
were posted in India.
• The home charges also included payment of India’s external debt
and pension for retired British officials in India.

The Inter-war Economy

• The First World War wreaked large scale havoc around the
world in many senses. About 9 million people died and 20
million people were injured in the wake of the war.
 • Most of the people who were killed or maimed were people from
working age. This resulted in a significant reduction in the
number of able-bodied workforce in Europe. Due to fewer
earning members in the families, the household incomes
drastically reduced in Europe.
• Most of the men were forced to engage in war and thus women
had to replace them in factory jobs. Women were now working in
those jobs which were earlier considered as male bastions.
• The war also led to snapping of ties between some major
economic powers of the world. Britain had to borrow from the
US to finance the war. The war transformed the US from an
international debtor to an international creditor. Now, US and its
citizens owned more overseas assets than foreign governments or
citizens owned in the US.

Post-war Recovery
• While Britain was preoccupied with war, industries developed in
India and Japan.
• After the war, Britain found it difficult to regain its earlier
dominant position in India. Similarly, it was unable to compete
with Japan at the international level. At the end of the war, Britain
was under huge debts from the US.
• During the war, there was increased demand for goods which
resulted in economic boom in Britain.
• After the war ended, the demand drastically fell to come in tune
with the peace-time economy. About 20% of the British workers
lost their job after the war.
• During the war, Canada, America and Australia emerged as the
leading suppliers of wheat.
 • Once the war was over, the Eastern Europe resumed the supply
of wheat. This resulted in a glut of wheat in the market and prices
fell. This created havoc in the rural economy.

Rise of Mass Production and Consumption

• During the 1920s, the unique feature of the US economy was
mass production.
• Henry Ford, the founder of the Ford Motors was the pioneer of
mass production in factories.
• Mass production helped in increasing productivity and reducing
prices.
• Workers began to earn better in the US and hence had better
disposable income. This created huge demand for various
products.
• The car production rose from 2 million in 1919 to 5 million 1929
in the US.
• Similarly, the production of white goods; like refrigerators,
washing machines, radio, gramophone, etc. increased manifold in
the US.
• There was a housing boom as well in the US market. The
demand could be further maintained because of the beginning of
the hire purchase culture.

All of this made for a prosperous US economy. In 1923, US resumed

exporting capital to the rest of the world and emerged as the largest
overseas lender. This also helped in European recovery and boosted
the world trade for the next six years.
The Great Depression
Agricultural Overproduction: Agricultural overproduction was a major
problem during the 1920s. More supply of farm produce resulted in
lower price. Farmers tried to compensate by producing even more.
This created a glut of farm produce in the market; leading to further fall
in prices. Farm produce rotted because of lack of buyers.

Withdrawal of US Loans:
• Many European countries heavily depended on US loans. But
the US lender panicked at the first sign of trouble.
• In the first half of 1928, the US loan amounted to $ 1 billion.
But within a year, it was just a quarter billion dollar.
• Withdrawal of US loan affected many countries in various ways.
• This led to the collapse of many banks and currencies in Europe.
• The British Pound Sterling also crashed during this period. The
Agricultural market slumped in Latin America.
• The US banks slashed domestic lending and called back loans.
But people were not in a position to repay the loan which they
had taken to buy homes and white goods. Unemployment level
increased and banks were unable to collect loans.
• Thousands of banks in the US went bankrupt.
• By 1933, over 4000 banks had closed. Between 1929 and 1932,
about 110,000 companies collapsed in the US.

In most of the economies, a modest recovery began by 1935.

India and the Great Depression
• The Depression affected the Indian economy as well.
• Between 1928 and 1934, the imports and exports of India
became nearly half. During this period, the wheat prices in India
fell by 50%.
• In spite of falling prices of farm produce, the government
continued to demand the same revenue from the farmers. Thus,
farmers were the worst sufferers in this situation.
• Many farmers were forced to utilize their savings, sell their lands
and jewelry. Thus, India became a net exporter of precious metal
during this period.

“The depression proved less grim for the urban dwellers in

India. With falling prices, many urban landowners and salaried people
found the life much easier. Under pressure from the nationalist leaders,
the industrial protection grew which led to more investment in the
industries.”

Bretton Woods Institutions

the main aim of the post wart international economic system was to
preserve economic stability and full employment in the industrial
world.so,the famous economist John Mayanrd Keynes directed the
preparartion of the framework and it was agreed upon at the United
Nations Monetary and Financial Conference held in July 1944 ar
Bretton Woods in New Hampshire in USA.According to the
conference,the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank
were set up.IMF was set up to deal with external surplus and deficits of
its members nations and the world bank was to finance post-war
reconstruction.These two are reffered to as Bretton Woods Institutions
or “Bretton Twins”

NIEO :
Although there was unprecedented economic growth in the West and
Japan,nothing was done about the poverty and lack of development in
countries which were earlier colonies.thus,there was a need of
devel;oping nations to organise intio the G-77 group to demand a New
International Economic Order(NIEO),a system that would give them
control over their own natural resources,more developmetn
assistance,fairer prices for raw materials and better access for their
manufactured goods in developed markets.

Questions with answers

Question 1. Give two examples of different types of global exchanges

which took place before the seventeenth century, choosing one example
from Asia and one from the Americas.
Answer:
Examples of the different types of global exchanges which took place
before the seventeenth century:
∙∙ Textiles, spices and Chinese pottery were exchanged by China, India
and Southeast Asia in return for gold and silver from Europe.
∙∙ Gold and foods such as potatoes, soya, groundnuts, tomatoes and
chillies were first exported from the Americas to Europe.

Question 2. Explain how the global transfer of disease in the pre-modern

world helped in the colonisation of the Americas.
Answer:
The global transfer of disease in the pre-modern world helped in the
colonization of the Americas because the native American Indians were
not immune to the diseases that the settlers and colonizers brought with
them. The Europeans were more or less immune to small pox, but the
Native Americans, having been cut off from the rest of the world for
millions of years, had no defense against it. These germs killed and wiped
out whole communities, paving the way for foreign domination. Weapons
and soldiers could be destroyed or captured, but diseases could not be
fought against.

Question 3. Write a note to explain the effects of the following:

a) The British government’s decision to abolish the Corn Laws.
Answer:
(a)The British government’s decision to abolish the Corn Laws was
theinflow of cheaper agricultural crops from America and Australia. Many
English farmers lefttheir profession and migrated to towns and cities.
Some went overseas. This indirectly led toglobal agriculture and rapid
urbanisation, a prerequisite of industrial growth.
b) The coming of rinderpest to Africa.
Answer:
b)The coming of rinderpest to Africa caused a loss of livelihood for
countless Africans. Using this situation to their advantage, colonising
nations conquered and subdued Africa by monopolising scarce cattle
resources to force Africans into the labour market.
c) The death of men of working-age in Europe because of the World
War.
Answer:
(c)Most of the victims of world war belonged to young generations of
working men. As a result ,it reduced the workforce in Europe, thereby
reducing household income. The role of women increased and led to
demand for more equality of status. It made the feminist movement
stronger. Women started working alongside men in every field. Women
and youngsters became more independent and free with long-term effects.
d) The Great Depression on the Indian economy.
Answer:
D)The impact of the Great Depression in India was felt especially in the
agricultural sector. Itwas evident that Indian economy was closely
becoming integrated to global economy. Indiawas a British colony and
exported agricultural goods and imported manufactured goods. Thefall in
agricultural price led to reduction of farmers’ income and agricultural
export. Thegovernment did not decrease their tax and so, many farmers
and landlords became moreindebted to moneylenders and corrupt
officials. It led to a great rural unrest in India.
e) The decision of MNCs to relocate production to Asian countries.
Answer:
Impact of MNC’s decision to relocate production in Asian Countries:
a. It provided for cheap labor to MNC’s
b. It stimulated world trade.
c. Increased capital inflow in the Asian Countries
d. Brought about new technology and production methods to the Asian
Countries.
e. Greater choice of goods and services to the people.
f. Greater employment opportunities for Asian countries.
g. Rapid economic transformation resulting in the growth of economies
like India, China
Question 4. Give two examples from history to show the impact of
technology on food availability.
Answer:
Two examples from history to show the impact of technology on food
availability were:
∙∙ Faster railways, lighter wagons and larger ships helped transport food
more cheaply and quickly from production units to even faraway markets.
∙∙Refrigerated ships helped transport perishable foods such as meat, butter
and eggs over long distances.

Question 5. What is meant by the Bretton Woods Agreement?

Answer:
The Bretton Woods Agreement was finalised in July 1944 at Bretton
Woods in New Hampshire, USA. It established the International
Monetary Fund and the World Bank to preserve global economic stability
and full employment in the industrial world. These institutions also dealt
with external surpluses and deficits of member nations, and financed post-
war reconstructions.
Discuss
Question 6. Imagine that you are an indentured Indian labourer in the
Caribbean. Drawing from the details in this chapter, write a letter to your
family describing your life and feelings.
Answer:
I am working in Trinidad (Caribbean) as an indentured labourer.
Through this letter, I want to tell you about my hardship and
misbehaviour of the contractor towards me.
The contractor at the time of hiring me did not provide the correct
information regarding place of work, mode of travel and living and
working conditions.
Very few legal rights are provided to us. The contractor uses harsh and
abusive language at the worksite. He treats us like coolies and we are an
uneasy minority in the cocoa plantations in Trinidad.
Whenever I do not attend my work, I am prosecuted and sent to jail.
There is a lot of work at the plantations with heavy workload and
sometimes I have to finish all of it one day.
In case of unsatisfactory work (in the contractor’s thinking), my wages are
cut.
I am living a life of a slave and in great trouble.
Question 7. Explain the three types of movements or flows within
international economic exchange. Find one example of each type of flow
which involved India and Indians, and write a short account of it.
Answer:The three types of movements or flows within the international
economic exchange are
(a) trade flows, (b)human capital flows and (c) capital flows or investments.
These can be explained as—the trade in agricultural products, migration of
labour, and financial loans to and from other nations.
India was a hub of trade in the pre-modern world, and it exported textiles
and spices in return for gold and silver from Europe. Many different
foods such as potatoes, soya, groundnuts, maize, tomatoes, chillies and
sweet potatoes came to India from the Americas after Columbus
discovered it.
In the field of labour, indentured labour was provided for mines,
plantations and factories abroad, in huge numbers, in the nineteenth
century. This was an instrument of colonial domination by the British.
Lastly, Britain took generous loans from USA to finance the World War.
Since India was an English colony, the impact of these loan debts was felt
in India too. The British government increased taxes, interest rates, and
lowered the prices of products it bought from the colony. Indirectly, but
strongly, this affected the Indian economy and people.
Question 8. Explain the causes of the Great Depression.
Answer:
The Great Depression was a result of many factors:
(1) Prosperity in the USA during the 1920s created a cycle of higher
employment and incomes. It led to rise in consumption and demands.
More investment and more employment created tendencies of
speculations which led to the Great Depression of 1929upto the mid-
1930s.
(2) Stock market crashed in 1929. It created panic among investors and
depositors who stopped investing and depositing. As a result, it created a
cycle of depreciation.
(3) Failure of the banks. Some of the banks closed down when people
withdrew all their assets, leaving them unable to invest. Some banks called
back loans taken from them at the same dollar rate in spite of the falling
value of dollar. It was worsened by British change in policy to value
pound at the pre-war value.

Question 9. Explain what is referred to as the G-77 countries. In what

ways can G-77 be seen as a reaction to the activities of the Bretton Woods
twins?
Answer:
G-77 countries is an abbreviation for the group of 77 countries that
demanded a new international economic order (NIEO); a system that
would give them real control over their natural resources, without being
victims of neo-colonialism, that is, a new form of colonialism in trade
practised by the former colonial powers.
The G-77 can be seen as a reaction to the activities of the Bretton Woods
twins (the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank) because
these two institutions were designed to meet the financial needs of
industrial and developed countries, and did nothing for the economic
growth of former colonies and developing nations.
Print Culture & Modern World

The First Printed Books

• The earliest print technology was developed in China, Japan and

Korea.
• From 594 AD onwards, books were printed in China by rubbing
paper against the inked surface of woodblocks.
• The traditional Chinese ‘Accordion Book’ was folded and
stitched at the side because both sides of the thin, porous sheet
could not be printed.
• For a very long time, the imperial state of China was the major
producer of printed material.
• The Chinese bureaucratic system recruited its personnel through
civil services examinations. The imperial state sponsored the large
scale printing of textbooks for this examination.
• The number of candidates for the examinations increased from
the sixteenth century, and this increased the volume of print.

Expansion of printing usage in China

• By the seventeenth century, the use of print diversified in China

because of a blooming urban culture.
• Print was no longer limited to scholar-officials. Merchants used
print in day-to-day life because they collected trade related
information. Fictional narratives, poetry, autobiographies,
anthologies of literary masterpieces and romantic play became the
staple for the reading public.
• Reading acquired the status of a preferred leisure activity. Rich
women began to read and many of them began publishing their
poetry and plays.
Print in Japan

• The Buddhist missionaries from China introduced hand-printing

technology into Japan around 768 – 770 AD.
• The Buddhist Diamond Sutra which was printed in 868 AD was
the oldest Japanese book.
• books were written on women, musical instruments, calculations,
tea ceremony, flower arrangements, proper etiquette, cooking and
famous places.

Print Comes to Europe

• Marco-Polo returned from China to Italy in 1295 and brought

the knowledge of woodblock printing alongwith him.
• Thus, printing began in Italy and travelled to other parts of
Europe.
• Vellum which was a is a parchment made from the skin of
animals was still the preferred material for printing the luxury
editions because printed books were considered as cheap
vulgarities.
• By the early fifteenth century, woodblocks were widely used in
Europe to print various materials. It almost replaced the books
made by calligraphy.

Gutenberg and the Printing Press

• Gutenberg was a master goldsmith and he knew the art of polishing

the stones and was an expert in creating lead moulds.
• He used his knowledge to bring innovation to the print technology.
• He used the olive press as the model for the printing press and used
the moulds for casting the metal types for the letters.
 • Gutenberg perfected the system by 1448.
• The first book printed by him was the Bible.

The Print Revolution and Its Impact:

The Print Revolution and Its Impact

A New Reading Public:

• With the print technology, a new reading public emerged. Books
became cheaper because of printing. Numerous copies could now
be produced with much ease. This helped in catering to an ever
growing readership.
• Literacy level was very low till the twentieth century in Europe.
• Printers kept in mind the wider reach of the printed work.
Popular ballads and folk tales were published which could be
listened by even the illiterates.
• Literate people read out stories and ballads to those who could
not read.

Religious Debates and Fear of Print

• Print created an opportunity of a new debate and discussion.

• People began questioning some established notions of religion.
• For the orthodox people, it was like a challenge as they feared
the disturbance in old order.
• The Protestant Revolution in Christianity began because of print
culture.
• The Roman Church felt troubled by new ideas which raised
questions about the existing norms of faith.
• It even started to maintain an Index of Prohibited Books from
1558.
Print Culture and the French Revolution

Many historians are of the view that print culture created the conditions
which led to French Revolution. Some of such conditions are as
follows:

• Print popularized the ideas of Enlightenment thinkers. These

thinkers gave critical commentary on tradition, superstition and
despotism. Voltaire and Rousseau were among the prominent
Enlightenment thinkers.
• Print created a new culture of dialogue and debate. General
public began to discuss the values, norms and institutions and
tried to re-evaluate the established notions.
• By the 1780s, there was a surge in literature which mocked the
royalty and criticized their morality. Print helped in creating an
image of the royalty that they indulged in their own pleasure at
the expense of the common public.

Further Innovations

• Richard M. Hoe of New York perfected the power-driven

cylindrical press by the mid-nineteenth century. This could print
8,000 sheets per hour.
• Offset press was developed in the late nineteenth century. This
could print up to six colours at a time.
• Electrically operated presses came in use from the turn of the
twentieth century. This helped in accelerating the printing
process.
New Strategies to sell books:

• Many periodicals serialized important novels in the nineteenth

century.
 • In the 1920s in England, popular works were sold in cheap
series, called the Shilling Series.
• The dust cover or book jacket is a twentieth century innovation.
• Cheap paperback editions were brought to counter the effect of
the Great Depression in the 1930s.

India and the World of Print

• The Portuguese missionaries were the first to bring printing press

to Goa in the mid-sixteenth century.
• The first books were printed in Konkani language.
• By 1674, about 50 books had been printed in Konkani and
Kanara Languages.
• Catholic priests printed the first Tamil book in 1579 at Cochin.
They printed the first Malayalam book in 1713.
• From 1780, James Augustus Hickey began to edit the Bengal
Gazette. Hickey.
• Warren Hastings encouraged the publication of officially
sanctioned newspapers to protect the image of the colonial
government.
• The first Indian newspaper was the weekly Bengal Gazette which
was brought out by Gangadhar Bhattacharya.

Religious debates in India

Print culture helped in initiating new debate on religious, social and
political issues in India. Many existing religious practices were criticized.

• Rammohun Roy published Sambad Kaumudi from 1821 to

criticize the orthodox views in the Hinduism.
• The Hindu orthodoxy commissioned the Samachar Chandrika
to counter his opinions. In 1822, publication of two Persian
 newspapers began, viz. Jam – i- Jahan Nama and Shamsul
Akhbar.
• Bombay Samachar; a Gujarati newspaper appeared in the same
year.
• Ramcharitmanas of Tulsidas was printed from Calcutta in 1810.
• From the 1880s, the Naval Kishore Press at Lucknow and the
Shri Venkateshwar Press in Bombay published many religious
texts in vernaculars.

New forms of Publication

• A new visual culture was taking shape by the end of the

nineteenth century. Many printing presses started to produce
visual images in large numbers. Works of painters; like Raja Ravi
Varma were produced for mass circulation through printing.
• By the 1870s, caricatures and cartoons were being published in
journals and newspapers. They commented on various social and
political issues.

Print and Censorship

• Initially, the control measures were directed against Englishmen

in India who were critical of Company misrule.
• After the revolt of 1857, the attitude to freedom of the press
changed.
• The Vernacular Press Act was passed in 1878. The Act provided
the government with extensive rights to censor reports and
editorials in the vernacular press.
• In case of a seditious report, the newspaper was warned. If the
warning was ignored, the press was liable to be seized and the
printing machinery confiscated.
Questions with Answer
Question 1.Give reasons for the following:
(a) Woodblock print only came to Europe after 1295.
(b) Martin Luther was in favour of print and spoke out in praise of it.
(c) The Roman Catholic Church began keeping an Index of Prohibited
books from the mid-sixteenth century.
(d) Gandhi said the fight for Swaraj is a fight for liberty of speech, liberty
of the press, and freedom ofassociation.
Answer:
(a)Woodblock print was invented around the sixth century in China. It
came to Europe, along with Marco Polo, in1295. Marco Polo returned to
Italy after many years of exploration in China, and he brought the
knowledge ofwoodblock print with him on his return.
(b)Through the publications of his protestant ideas, Martin Luther
challenged the orthodox practices and ritualsof the Roman Catholic
Church. He wrote 95 theses criticizing many of the practices of the
Roman CatholicChurch. Luther’s writings were immediately reproduced
in vast numbers and read widely. This led to a division within the church
and to the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. He also translated the
New Testament ofwhich 5000 copies were sold within a few days. These
were impossible without the printing technology. Deeply grateful to the
print, Luther said, “Printing is the ultimate gift of God and the greatest
one.”This is the reason why Luther was in favour of print and spoke out
in praise of it.
(c) The Roman Catholic Church had to face many dissents from mid-16th
century onwards. People had writtenmany books that interpreted the God
and the creation in their own ways or as they liked. Therefore, the
churchbanned such books and kept the record of such banned books. It
was called the Index of Prohibited Books.
(d) Gandhi considered that the liberty of speech, liberty of press and
freedom of association were three most powerful vehicles of expressing
and cultivating public opinion. Therefore, he said the fight for Swaraj was
a fight for liberty of speech, press, and freedom for association.
Question 2.Write short notes to show what you know about:
(a) The Gutenberg Press
(b) Erasmus’s idea of the printed book
(c) The Vernacular Press Act
Answer:
(a) The Gutenberg Press: The first printing press was developed by Johan
Gutenberg in 1430s. It was a developed form of the olive and wine
presses. By 1448 Gutenberg perfected this system. The lead moulds were
used for casting the metal types for the letters of alphabet. The first book
he printed was Bible. He produced 180 copies of Bible in 3 years, which
was much faster by standards of the time, at the time.
(b) Erasmus’s idea of printed book: Erasmus was the Latin scholar and a
Catholic reformer. He criticized the printing of books. He thought that
most of the books are stupid, ignorant, scandalous, raving, irreligious and
seditious. According to him such books devaluate the valuable books.
(c) The Vernacular Press Act:Modelled on the Irish Press Laws, it was
passed in 1878. This law gave the government tyrannical rights to censor
reports and editorials in the vernacular press. If a seditious report was
published and the newspaper did not heed to an initial warning, then the
press was seized and the printing machinery confiscated. This was a
complete violation of the freedom of expression.
Question 3.What did the spread of print culture in nineteenth century
India mean to:
(a) Women
(b) The poor
(c) Reformers
Answer:
(a) The spread of print culture in 19th century India benefitted Indian
women through learning and education. The liberal families supported
the education of women to study or read as they believed education and
reading would make the women corrupt. This led to the counter reaction,
as most of the oppressed women began to study and read books and
learnt writing in secrecy. Some literate women started to write books and
their autobiographies. Rashasundari Devi, a young married girl wrote her
autobiography “Amar Jiban” which was published in 1876. Overall, the
print culture in 19th century India helped in spread of the feeling of self-
reliance among Indian women.
(b) The poor people benefitted from the spread of print culture because
of the availability of books at a low price. The readership among them
increased due to the publication of low priced books. Public libraries were
also set up from the early 19th century, expanding the access to the books
where all people could gain knowledge. Encouraged and inspired by the
social reformers, the people like factory workers too set up their libraries
and some even wrote books. Kashibaba, a Kanpur mill worker wrote and
published ‘Chote aur Bade Ka Sawal’.
(c) Indian reforms of 19th century utilized print culture as the most potent
means of spreading their reformist ideas and highlight the unethical
issues. They began publishing various vernacular and English and Hindi
newspapers and books through which they could spread their opinions
against widow immolation, child marriage, monotheism, Brahmanical
priesthood and idolatry to the common people of the country. In this way
the spread of print culture in the 19th century provided them a space for
attacking religious orthodoxy and to spread modern social and political
ideas to the people of different languages across the country.
Discuss
Question 1.Why did some people in 18th century Europe think that print
culture would bring enlightenment and end despotism?
Answer:
Many people in the 18th century Europe thought that the print culture
has the power in it to bring enlightenment and end despotism. This would
help in spreading of literacy and knowledge among all class of people.
Social reformers like Louise, Sebastian Mercier, and Martin Luther felt
that the print culture is the most powerful engine of progress and public
opinion and hence, it would definitely bring enlightenment and an end to
despotism.
Question 2.Why did some people fear the effect of easily available
printed books? Choose one example from Europe and one from India.
Answer:
Some people especially from upper class and powerful class feared the
effect of easily available printed books. Their cause of fear was that due to
the spread of literacy among the common people they may loose their
position or authorities. Some people feared that this may lead to the
spread of rebellions and irreligious thoughts. For example –
∙∙ In Europe, the Roman Catholic Church tried to curb the printed books
through the Index of Prohibited Books.
∙∙ In India, the Vernacular Press Act imposed restrictions on Indian press
and various local newspapers. Also, some religious leaders and some
people from upper castes expressed their fear.

Question 4. What were the effects of the spread of print culture for poor
people in nineteenth century India?
Answer:
The effects of the spread of print culture for poor people in nineteenth
century India were:
∙∙The poor people benefited from the spread of print culture in India on
account of the availability of low-price books and public libraries.
∙∙Enlightening essays were written against caste discrimination and its
inherent injustices. These were read by people across the country.
∙∙ On the encouragement and support of social reformers, over-worked
factory workers set up libraries for self-education, and some of them even
published their own works, for example, Kashibaba and his “Chhote Aur
Bade Ka Sawal”.
Question 5.Explain how print culture assisted the growth of nationalism in
India.
Answer:
The print culture immensely helped the growth in the growth of
nationalism in India in the following ways –
∙∙ Through vernacular press, oppressive methods of colonial rule were
reported.
∙∙ The misrule of government and its initiative on curbing the freedom of
press spread the nationalist ideas that demanded freedom of press.
∙∙ Nationalist feelings and revolutionary ideas were secretly spread by the
dailies like – The Amrit Bazar Patrika, The Indian Mirror, Kesri, The
Hindu, Bombay Samachar etc. Through these newspapers national
leaders always tried to mobilize public opinion of Indian masses and unite
them for the cause of nationalism.
∙∙ The print culture helped in educating the people who then started to be
gradually influenced by the reformist and nationalist ideas of the various
Indian leaders like Raja Ram Mohun Roy, Tilak, Subhas Bose and
Gandhiji etc.
Resources and Development

Resource: Anything which can be used for satisfying the human needs is
called a resource provided:-
They are
1. Economical feasible
2. Technological accessible
3. Culturally Acceptable

Types of Resources:
Resources can be classified on different bases; into following types:
a. On the basis of origin: Biotic and Abiotic
b. On the basis of exhaustibility: Renewable and Non-renewable
c. On the basis of ownership: Individual, community, national and
international
d. On the basis of status of development: Potential, Developed,
Stock and Reserves

Classification of Resources:

(1) On the basis of Origin

a. Biotic Resources: All living organisms in our environment are

called biotic resources. For example, trees, animals, insects,
etc.
b. Abiotic Resources: All non-living things present in our
environment are termed as abiotic resources. For example –
earth, air, water, metals, rocks, etc.
(2) On the basis of Exhaustibility:

a. Renewable Resources: Resources that can be replenished

after a short period of time are called Renewable Resources.
For example – agricultural crops, water, forest, wildlife, etc.
b. Non-renewable Resources: Resources which takes million
years of time to replenish are called non-renewable resources.
For example – fossil fuel.

(3) On the Basis of ownership:

a. Individual: Resources owned by individuals are called

Individual Resources. For example – land owned by farmers,
house, etc.
b. Community: Resources owned by community or society are
called Community Owned Resources. For example –
Graveyard, grazing land, ponds, burial grounds, park, etc.
c. National Resources: Resources owned by Individual Nations
are called National Resources. For example – Government
land, Roads, canals, railway, etc.
d. International Resources: Resources regulate by
International bodies are called International Resources. For
example – Ocean and sea beyond 200 km of the Exclusive
Economic Zone and is called open sea or ocean. No individual
country can utilize these resources without the permission of
International bodies.

(4) On the basis of Status of Development:

a. Potential Resources: Resources which are found in a

particular region, but not yet used properly. For example –
Rajasthan and Gujarat receive plenty of solar energy and
have plenty of wind energy, but use of these resources so far
has not been developed properly.
b. Developed Resources: Resources which are developed and
surveyed for utilization and are being used in present time are
known as Developed Resources.
c. Stock: Resources that are available, but we do not have
proper technology to used them are called Stock. For example
– water is made of oxygen and hydrogen, which can be used
 as fuel, but because of lack of proper technology these are not
being used.
d. Reserves: Resources which are available and the knowhow
to use them is also present but they are yet to be used are
called Reserves. For example – river water which is not used
to generate electricity.

Examples:

• Accumulation of resources in only few hands leaves others

unsatisfied.
• Indiscriminate use of resources is creating many problems around
the world, such as global warming, ecological crisis, disturbance
in ozone layer, etc.
• Thus, equal distribution of resources becomes necessary for
sustainable development.

Sustainable Development: Development which takes place without

damaging the environment and compromising with needs of future is
called sustainable development.
Keeping the view of justified use of resources and sustainable
development, the Earth Summit was organized in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro
in which more than 100 state heads agreed with Agenda 21 for the
sustainable development and proper use of resources.
Agenda 21 is an agenda to combat environmental damage, poverty,
disease, etc. through global co-operation on common interests, mutual
needs and shared responsibilities.
Resource Planning:
• Resource planning is the judicious use of resources.
• Resource planning becomes more important in a country like India,
where resources are not distributed properly. For example; many
states are rich in mineral and deficient in other resources, such as
Jharkhand is rich in minerals, but there is problem of drinking water
and other facilities, Arunachal Pradesh has plenty of water but lack
of other development because of lack of resources.
Resource Planning in India:
Resource Planning in India is one of the most important goals right from
its first Five Years Plan. Following are the main points of Resource
planning.

i. Making of inventory of resources after their region-wise

identification across the country.
ii. Matching of resource plan with development plan, etc.
iii. Making of the planning structure with appropriate technology,
skill and institutions.

Conservation of Resources:
• Overuse of resources creates many socio-economic problems.
Many leaders and thinkers have been advocating for the judicious
use and conservation of resources.
• Gandhiji told “There is enough for everybody’s need and not for
any body’s greed.” He thought that exploitative nature of modern
technology is the root cause for depletion at global level. He
believed in the production by masses and not in the mass
production.
• Thus, conservation of resources at various levels becomes most
important. Resources can be conserved only with their judicious
use.
Land Resources:
Land is one of the most important natural resources. Land supports our
life system. Thus, careful planning of use of land resource is necessary.
India comprises of many types of land. These are mountains, plateau,
plains and islands.

• Mountains: About 30% of land area in India is in the form of

mountain. Mountain supports the perennial flow of rivers,
which carry fertile soils, facilitate irrigation and provide
drinking water.
 • Plain: About 43% of land area in India is in the form of plains.
Plains provide facilities for agriculture, building of industries
and houses, etc.
• Plateau: About 27% of land in India is in the form of plateau
which provides many types of minerals, fossil fuels and forest.

Land Utilization: Patterns of use of Land Resources

1. Forests
2. Land not available for cultivation: There are two types of land
which are not used for agriculture purpose. These are:
a. Barren and waste land
b. Lands used for buildings, roads, factories, etc. i.e
for non-agriculture purpose.
3. Other uncultivated land (excluding fallow land)
a. Permanent pastures and grazing land,
b. Land under miscellaneous tree crops groves (not
included in net sown area),
c. Culturable waste land (left uncultivated for more
than 5 agricultural years).
4. Fallow lands
a. Current fallow-(left without cultivation for one or
less than one agricultural year),
b. Other than current fallow-(left uncultivated for the
past 1 to 5 agricultural years).
5. Net sown area: Area which is sown at least once in a year is
called net sown area.
6. Gross cropped area: Area sown more than once in an
agricultural year plus net sown area is known as gross cropped
area.

Land Use Pattern in India:

Pattern of use of land depends upon physical and human factors both.
• physical factors : Climate, topography, type of soil, etc.while
population,
• (ii) Human factors : technology, skill, population density, tradition,
capability, etc.
 • India has total 3.28 million square kilometer land used data.
• Only 93% of land of total geographical area is available.

• The land under permanent pasture is decreasing, this will create

the problem for grazing.
• The total net sown are (NSA) is not more than 54% including land
other than fallow land. Land other than fallow land is either of poor
quality or too costly to cultivate, these lands are cultivated only
once or twice in two or three consecutive years.
• The pattern of net sown area varies widely from state to state.
Where net sown area is 80% in state like Punjab, it is only 10% in
the state of Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Manipur and Andaman
and Nicobar Island.
• According to National Forest Policy (1952), the forest should be
33% of total geographical area, which is essential to maintain
ecological balance.
• This is because of illegal deforestation and development which
cannot be overlooked, such as construction of roads and building,
etc.
• On the other hand, a large population which is dwelling at the
fringe of forest depends upon the forest and its produce, resulting
in the reduction of forest area.
Land as Resource
• We fulfill most of our needs from land, such as food, clothing,
shelter, drinking water, etc. But in past few decades the quality of
land is degrading fiercely because of human activity.
• Many human activities aggravated the natural forces which are, in
turn, degrading the land resources also.
 • Presently, about 130 million hectare of land is reported under
degraded land in India, in which about 28% of land belongs to
forest and about 28% is water eroded area. Rest degraded land is
because of the following reasons
(i) over deposition of salinity and alkalinity.
(ii) Overgrazing,
(iii) Mining,
(iv) Deforestation,
(v) Division of lands in small area because of family feuds, etc
Measures to Conserve the Land Resources:
Degradation of land can be prevented by taking following measures:
a. Afforestation
b. Proper management of grazing.
c. Stabilisation of sand dunes by plantation of thorny bushes.
d. Proper management of waste lands.
e. By proper irrigation.
f. By proper harvesting.
g. Control over mining activities.
h. Proper management of land after completion of mining work.
i. Discharge of industrial waste and effluents only after proper
treatment.
j. Plantation of trees along the road sides.
k. By preventing deforestation.
Soil as a natural resource:
• Soil is one of the most important natural resources. Soil supports
the growth of plants. Soil is the natural home of many living
organism, such as ants, rats, snakes, and many insects.
Formation of Soil:
 It takes thousands of years to form even 1 cm of soil. Soil is formed by
the weathering process of the rocks. Various natural forces, such as
temperature, running water, wind, etc. along with many physical and
chemical changes are equally important in the formation of soil
formation.
Classification of Soil:
Soil is categorized in many types on the basis of texture, colour, age,
chemical properties, etc. India is a vast country which comprises of many
types of land. Thus, many types of soils are found in different regions in
India.
1. Alluvial Soil
Availability: Alluvial soil is found near the river or plains formed by
rivers. Alluvial soil is considered relatively younger in age. In India,
alluvial soil is found in the north eastern plain where Ganga, Yamuna,
and Brahmaputra flow. Alluvial soil is deposited by river system. Entire
northern plain is made of alluvial soil.
Alluvial soil is also found in eastern coastal plains near the Mahanadi,
the Krishna, the Godavari and the Kaveri rivers.
Nature:
• Alluvial soil is very fertile, thus plains of Ganga, Brahmaputra,
Yamuna, etc. are densely populated.
• Alluvial soil is the mixture of various proportions of silt, sand and
clay. Alluvial soils differ in the size of their particles at the area of
break of slope.
• Apart from the size of particles of grains, soils are also classified
on the basis of their age. The older alluvial soil is known as Bangar
and new alluvial soil or Khadar. New alluvial soil has more
concentration of coarse grains while Old alluvial soil has plenty of
fine particles.
 • Alluvial soil is rich in potash, phosphoric acid and lime. Because of
presence of these chemicals alluvial soil is good for the growth of
sugarcane, paddy, wheat, maize, and pulses.
2. Black Soil
Availability: Because of black colour, this type of soil is called black soil.
It is also known as Regur Soil. Black soil is found in the north west
deccan plateau. It is found in the plateau of Maharashtra, Saurashtra,
Malwa, Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh and extent along with the
valley of Krishna and Godavari Rivers.
Nature:
• Black soil has high concentration of fine particles and thus can
hold moisture for long time.
• It contains calcium, potassium, magnesium and lime. Black soil is
suitable for the growth of cotton, but many other crop are grown in
the area of black soil.

3. Red and Yellow Soil

The soil looks red due to presence of iron in crystalline or metamorphic
rocks. When the soil look yellow when it occurs in dehydrated form. Red
soil is present in the eastern and southern parts of the Deccan Plateau.
Red soil is also found in Orissa, Chhattisgarh, on the southern part of the
Gangetic plains and along the piedomont zone of the Western Ghats.
4. Laterite Soil
Laterite soil is formed in regions which get high rainfall with high
temperature. This causes leaching of the soil and microorganisms are
killed during the process. Due to this, laterite soil does not contain humus
or contains very low amount of humus. This soil is mainly found in
Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and in hilly areas of
Orissa and Assam. This soil can be made cultivable with heavy dose of
manures.
 5. Arid Soil
Arid soil is found in those areas which receive scanty rainfall. Due to high
temperature, evaporation is faster in these regions. The soil has a high
content of salt. Arid soil can be made cultivable with proper treatment.
Arid soil is present in Rajasthan and Gujarat.
6. Forest Soil
The forest soil is found in hilly areas. The soil in upper parts is highly
acidic because of denudation. The soil in the lower part is highly fertile.

Soil Erosion and Soil Conservation

Removal of top soil is called soil erosion. Intense farming, grazing,
construction activities and other human activities; along with
deforestation have led to soil erosion. Soil erosion; if not checked in time;
can even lead to desertification.
Soil conservation is important to prevent soil erosion. Soil conservation
can be done by many methods. Afforestation is the main method
because trees hold the topsoil in place. Terrace farming and shelter belt
planting also help in soil conservation.

Questions and answers

Q.1 Multiple choice questions:

(i) Which one of the following types of resources is iron ore?
a. Renewable
b. Biotic
c. Flow
d. Non-renewable

(ii) Under which of the following type of resource can tidal

energy be put?
a. Replenishable
b. Abiotic
 c. Human-made
d. Non-recyclable

(iii) Which one of the following is the main cause of land

degradation in Punjab?
a. Intense cultivation
b. Deforestation
c. Over irrigation
d. Overgrazing

(iv) In which one of the following states is the terrace

cultivation practiced?
a. Punjab
b. Haryana
c. Plains of Uttar Pradesh
d. Uttaranchal

(v) In which one of the following states is the black soil found?
a. J&K
b. Gujarat
c. Rajasthan
d. Jharkhand

Ans (i)-d (ii)-a (iii)-c (iv)-d (v)-b.

Q.2 Answer the following questions in about 30 words:

Ans
(i) Name three states having black soil and the crop which is
mainly grown in it.
(i) The states of Maharashtra, Gujarat and Karnataka have
black soil. The crop which is grown in this soil is cotton. This soil is called
‘Regur’ regionally in this region.

(ii) What type of soil is found in the river deltas of the Eastern
Coast? Give three main features of this type of soil.
(ii) The deltas made by east flowing rivers on Eastern Coastal
plain have alluvial soil. Main features of this soil are:
 (a) It is a most fertile soil having chemicals like lime, potash
and phosphoric acid.
(b) The regions of this soil are densely populated.
(c) This soil is ideal for growing sugarcane, paddy and
other cereals.

(iii) What steps can be taken to control soil erosion in the hilly
areas?
(iii) In hilly areas, soil erosion can be controlled by ploughing
across contour-lines, making use of terrace farming
techniques and using strips of grasses to check soil erosion
by wind and water.

(iv) What are biotic and abiotic resources? Give some

examples.
(iv) Biotic Resources: The resources which are obtained from
the biosphere and have life are called Biotic Resources. For example,
animals and plants including human beings are biotic resources.
Abiotic Resources: The resources which are composed of
non-living things are called Abiotic Resources. For example, water, minerals,
metals, wind, solar energy etc.

Q.3 Answer the following questions in about 120 words.

(i) Explain land use pattern in India and why has the land
under forest not increased much from 1960-61?
Ans(i) Land-use pattern in India is a dynamic concept. It changes
over space and time. Land-use pattern in India is as follows:
1. About 46% area is the net sown area in the country.
2. Forests occupy about 22% of the reporting area.
3. The cultivable wasteland accounts for nearly 5% of the area.
4. The fallow land covers about 8% of the total area.
5. Permanent pastures and tree crops cover only 5%.
6. The land not available for cultivation is nearly 14% of the total area.

The factors which determine land use are twofold:

(a) Physical - climate, soil and relief.
(b) Human - culture, tradition and technology.
The main causes for the change in Land-use pattern are:
1. Growing human population
2. Urbanization
3. Industrialisation,
This then varies from state to state also. The above mentioned factors are
also responsible for the decrease in land under forest which is around 19%
i.e. 14% away from 33% norm of UNO body on environment protection but
a slight improvement after 1960-61 i.e. of 22% of the total geographical
area.

(ii) How have technical and economic development led to

more consumption of resources?
(ii) Technical and economic developments have led to more consumption of
resources on account of various factors such as:
1. Technological development provides sophisticated
equipments. As a result, production increases ultimately leading to
consumption of more resources.
2. Technological development also leads to economic
development. When the economic condition of a country rises, the
needs of people also rise. It again results into more consumption of
resources.
3. Economic development provides favourable environment for the
development of latest technologies. It helps to make or convert
various materials found around us into resources. Finally, it results
into the consumption of new available resources too.
Forest and Wildlife Resources

Biodiversity:

The variety of flora and fauna in a given geographical area is called

biodiversity of that area.

Flora and Fauna in India

India is one of the world’s richest countries in terms of its vast array of
biological diversity, and has nearly 8 per cent of the total number of
species in the world (estimated to be 1.6 million).

Flora and Fauna in India

India is one of the world’s richest countries in terms of its vast array of
biological diversity, and has nearly 8 per cent of the total number of
species in the world (estimated to be 1.6 million).

Flora & Fauna in India

Fauna More than 81,000 species
Flora More than 47,000 species
Indigenous flowering plants About 15,000 species
Endangered wild flora About 10%
Endangered mammals About 20%

List of Critically Endangered Species:

Cheetah, pink-headed Duck, Mountain Quail, Forest Spotted Owl,

madhucha insignis (wild mahua), hubbardia heptaneuron (a grass
species)
 Number of Endangered Species: 79 species of mammals, 44 of birds,
15 of reptiles, and 3 of amphibians, 1,500 plant species are considered
endangered.

Classification Based on the International Union for Conservation of

Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN):

1. Normal Species: If the population level of species is

within normal range for their survival, it is called normal
species, e.g. cattle, pine, sal, rodents, etc.
2. Endangered Species: Species which are in danger of
extinction are called endangered species, e.g. black
buck, crocodile, Indian wild ass, Indian rhino, lion tailed
macaque, sangai (brow anter deer in Manipur), etc.
3. Vulnerable Species: If the population of a species has
declined to such a level that it is likely to become
endangered; it is called vulnerable species, e.g. blue
sheep, Asiatic elephant, Gangetic dolphin, etc.
4. Rare Species: If the population of a species so small
that it can become vulnerable or endangered, it is
called rare species, e.g. Himalayan brown bear, wild
Asiatic buffalo, desert, fox, hornbill, etc.
5. Endemic Species: A species which found only in a
particular geographical area is called an endemic
species, e.g. Andaman teal, Nicobar pigeon, Andaman
wild pig, mithun in Arunachal Pradesh, etc.
6. Extinct Species: A species which no longer exists is
called an extinct species. A species may be extinct
from a local area, region, country, continent or the
entire earth. Examples: Asiatic cheetah, pink head
duck, etc.

Causes of Depletion of Flora and Fauna:

1. Agricultural Expansion: According to the Forest Survey of India,

with the growing population’s need the forests are being converting
into agricultural lands.
2. Plantation: Plantation was done to promote a few favoured
species in many parts of India. This practice involves plantation of
 a single commercially valuable species. This leads to elimination of
other species.
3. Development Projects: Large scale development projects have
also contributed significantly to the loss of forests. Over 5,000 sq
km of forest was cleared for river valley projects since 1951.
4. Mining: Mining has also caused large scale depletion of flora and
fauna in many areas. For example; the ongoing dolomite mining is
seriously threatening the Buxa Tiger Reserve in West Bengal.
5. Unequal Access to Resources: Social inequality is another major
factor to depletion of flora and fauna. The rich people consume
much more than the poor and thus cause a higher degree of
environmental damage.

Social Effect of Resource Depletion:

1. The worst affected are the rural woen who have to go to the far
flung areas to fetch the fuels for their domestic use.
2. Deforestation induced flood and draught result in economic misery
for the poor.
3. Deforestation also leads to loss of cultural diversity. The
marginalized forest people now have to look for an alternative
source of income.

The Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972:

The government enacted the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972. Under
this act, an all India list of protected species was published. Hunting was
banned to protect the remaining population of some endangered species.
Trade in wildlife was restricted and the habitats of wildlife were given legal
protection many national parks and wildlife sanctuaries were established by
various state governments and the central government. Several projects
were announced for protecting specific animals, e.g. Project Tiger.
Government's Categorization of Forests:

1. Reserved Forests: More than half of the total forest

land has been declared reserved forests. These are
considered as the most valuable from conservation
perspective.
2. Protected Forests: Almost one-third of the total forest
area is protected forest. The protected forests are
protected from any further depletion.
3. Unclassed Forests: Forests which do not come under
either of the above two categories are called unclassed
forests.

Community and Conservation

Many local communities have recognized that conservation can secure

their long-term livelihood. At many places, such communities are
coordinating with government officials in conservation efforts.

• At Sariska Tiger Reserve (Rajasthan), villagers have fought

against mining by citing the Wildlife Protection Act.
• In many villages, people are protecting habitats and are explicitly
rejecting government involvement. For example; the inhabitants
of five villages in Alwar district of Rajastahn have declared 1,200
hectares of forest as the Bhairodev Dakav ‘Soncuri’. They have
declared their own set of rules and regulation to protect the
wildlife.
• Nature worship is an age old custom in the Hindu religion and in
many tribes. Sacred groves in forests are the result of this
tradition. Such spots in forests are untouched by human
intervention.
• The Mundas and the Santhals of Chhota Nagpur region worship
mahua (Bassia latifolia) and kadamba (Anthocaphalus cadmba)
trees. Similarly, the tribes of Orissa and Bihar worship the
tamarind (Tamarinudus indica) and mango (Mangifera indica); as
part of wedding rituals.
• Monkeys are considered the representatives of the Hindu god
Hanuman. At most of the places people do not harm monkeys or
 langurs because of this belief. In and around Bishnoi villages in
Rajasthan, chinkara, nilgai and peacocks are protected by the
community and nobody harms them.
• The Chipko Movement is a good example of community
participation in conservation programme.
• Farmers and citizen’s groups like the Beej Bachao Andolan in
Tehri and Navdanya have shown that adequate levels of
diversified crop production without the use of synthetic chemicals
are possible and economically viable.
• The Joint Forest Management (JFM) programme is another
example of involvement of local communities in forest
management. This programme has been in practice in Orissa
since 1988. Under this programme, the local villagers form some
institutions and manage the conservation activities. In lieu of that,
they get the right to take and utilize some forest resources.

PROJECT TIGER

• Project Tiger was launched in 1973; to protect tigers from

becoming extinct.
• At the turn of the 20th century, the tiger population was around
55,000 which dwindled to 1,827 by 1973.
• Threats for Tiger Population: Poaching for trade, shrinking
habitat, depletion of base prey species, growing human
population, etc.

Important Tiger Reserves: Corbett National Park (Uttarakhand),

Sunderband National Park (West Bengal), Bandhavgarh National
Park (Madhya Pradesh), Sariska Wildlife Sanctuary (Rajasthan),
Manas Tiger Reserve (Assam) and Periyar Tiger Reserve (Kerala)

Questions and answers

Q.1 Multiple choice questions:

(i) Which of these statements is not a valid reason for
depletion of flora and fauna?
(a) Agricultural expansion
(b) Large scale developmental projects
(c) Grazing and fuel wood collection
 (d) Rapid industrialization and urbanization

(ii) Which of the following conservation strategies do not

directly involve community participation?
(a) Joint forest management
(b) Chipko movement
(c) Beej Bachao Andolan
(d) Demarcation of wildlife sanctuaries

Ans (i) c (ii) d

Q.2 Match the following animals with their category of

Existence .
Animals / Plants Category of Existence

1. Blackbuck a. Extinct

2. Asiatic elephant b. Rare

3. Andaman wild pig c. Endangered

4. Himalayan brown d. Vulnerable

bear
5. Pink head duck e. Endemic

Ans 1- c. 2- d. 3- e. 4- b. 5- a.

Q.3 Match the following:

1. Reserved 1. Other forests and wastelands belonging to both
Forests government and private individuals and communities.
2. Protected 2. Forests are regarded as most valuable as far as the
Forests conservation of forests and wildlife resources concerned.
3. Un-classed 3.Forest lands are protected from any further depletion.
Forests
Ans 1- b. 2- c. 3- a.

Q.4 Answer the following questions:

(i) What is biodiversity? Why biodiversity is important for
human lives?
(i) Biodiversity means the quantity and variety of plant and
animal species found in a given environment. Biodiversity is immensely rich
in wildlife and cultivated species, diverse in form and function, but closely
integrated in a system through multiple networks of interdependencies.
Importance: Biodiversity is important for human lives because the human
beings, along with the biodiversity, form a complete web of ecological
system in which we are only a part and are very much dependent on this
system for our own existence.

(ii) How have human activities affected the depletion of flora

and fauna? Explain.
(ii) Human activities have been the major causes for the
depletion of flora and fauna. Various such activities are:
1. Agricultural expansion
2. Shifting cultivation (Jhum), a type of ‘slash and burn’
agriculture.
3. Large scale development projects.
4. Mining activities.
5. Habitat destruction, hunting, poaching, over-exploitation of forest
products, environmental degradation, forest-fire are some other
factors which have led to the decline of India’s biodiversity.
6. Environmental destruction due to unequal access, inequitable
consumption of resources and differential sharing of responsibilities
for environmental well-being are also responsible for the depletion
of flora and fauna.

Q.5 Answer the following in about 120 words:

(i) Describe how communities have conserved and protected
forests and wildlife in India.
(i) India has a multi-cultural and multi-religious society where protection of
forests and wildlife is a part of their daily life. Contributions by these
 communities towards the protection of forests and wildlife can be
explained as given below:
1. The inhabitants of five villages in Alwar district of Rajasthan
have declared 1200 hectares of forest as the Bhairodev Dakav ‘Sonchuri’,
declaring their own set of rules and regulations which do not allow
hunting, and are protecting the wildlife against any outside
encroachments.
2. Some trees are considered sacred by different communities
e.g. the Mundas and Santhals of Chotanagpur region worship Mahua and
Kadamba trees, and the tribals of Orissa and Bihar worship the Tamarind
and Mango trees during weddings.
3. In and around Bishnoi villages in Rajasthan, herds of
blackbuck, neelgai and peacock can be seen as an integral part of the
community and no one harms them.
4. The Chipko Movement in Uttaranchal has successfully
resisted cutting of trees as forests are home to different
communities and hilly people.

(ii) Write a note on good practices towards conserving forest

and wildlife.
(ii) In the conservation of forests and wildlife many good
practices have been evolved over the years which are social-cultural on one
hand and legal on the other hand such as:
1. Attaching religious importance to many sacred trees.
2. Attaching religious importance to some of the animals
helped in their conservation which in turn helps in maintaining ecological
balance.
3. Use of flora and fauna in religious functions.
4. Making of National Parks, Wildlife Sanctuary and Bio-
Reserves to protect endangered species of plants and
animals.
5. Implementing laws / acts to forbid killing and cutting of trees, make such
acts punishable etc.
6. Involving mass media to highlight problems associated with environmental
degradation.
7. Running community awareness programmes such as
Vanmahotsav etc. from time to time.
 Water Resources

Water: Some Facts and Figures:

• Out of total volume of water on earth; 97.5% exists in oceans and seas.
• About 2.5% of total water is available as freshwater.
• 70% of total freshwater is present as frozen ice in icebergs and glaciers.
• A little less than 30% of total freshwater is stored as groundwater.
• India receives about 4% of global precipitation.
• India ranks 133rd in the world in terms of water availability per person per annum.
• The total renewable water resources in India are estimated at 1,897 sq km per
annum.
• It is predicted that large parts of India will join regions with absolute water scarcity; by
2025.

Water Scarcity:

• Overexploitation of water, excessive use and unequal access to water among

different social groups are the main causes of water scarcity.
• A large population needs ever more water for various purposes. Large scale farming
also needs lot of water for irrigation. While demand has been increasing, the process
of natural recharge of groundwater has suffered because of several reasons.
• Large scale deforestation has disturbed the natural recharge of groundwater at many
places. Construction of concrete buildings, factories and roads has also made the
ground less impervious to rainwater. This has almost totally stopped the percolation of
rainwater to recharge groundwater.
• Excess use of chemical fertilisers and insecticides has contaminated groundwater at
many places. The contamination is at such a high level that water has become unfit
for human consumption.
• Sewage and effluents are being discharged into rivers and ponds; without being
treated. This has turned most of the rivers into filthy drains.

Water Resource Management:

• India had a long tradition of building various structures to manage water resources.
Irrigation systems were built as early as during the Mauryan Empire.

• At present, many multipurpose dam projects had been built in India.

• These dams serve many purposes.

(1) They prevent flood by checking the flow of water.

(2) The water from the dams is used through a system of canals to irrigate far flung
areas.

(3) Dams are also used for electricity generation.

(4) Moreover, drinking water is also supplied from the dams.

 But dams have caused a lot of people being displaced from their ancestral lands. Additionally,
a vast tract of land gets submerged in the catchment area of dam. This results in large scale
environmental consequences. Due to these reasons, many movement groups have begun
protesting against building of large dams. Narmada Bachao Andolan is an example of one
such movement.

Rainwater Harvesting

Most of the rainwater just flows off without percolating down the ground. This can be
prevented by using rainwater harvesting. Rainwater can be collected for future use or can be
channelized to recharge groundwater. Rooftop rainwater harvesting is ideal to be applied at
small scale. Many infrastructure projects; like Metro rail and flyovers have also started making
provisions for rainwater harvesting.

Questions and answers

Q.1
(iii) Here are some false statements. Identify the mistakes and
rewrite them correctly.
Solutions:
(a) Multiplying urban centers with large and dense
populations with urban lifestyles have helped in proper utilizations of water resources.
(a) Multiplying urban centers with large and dense populations
with urban lifestyles have added to the water and energy
requirements and thus, caused the over exploitation of water resources leading to its scarcity.

(b) Regulating and damming of rivers does not affect the

river’s natural flow and its sediment flow.
(b) Regulating and damming of rivers affect their natural flow
and causes the sediment to settle at the bottom.

(c) In Gujarat, the Sabarmati basin farmers were not agitated

when higher priority was given to water supply in urban areas, particularly during droughts.
(c ) In Gujarat, the Sabarmati basin farmers agitated over the
higher priority given to water supply in urban areas, particularly during droughts.

(d) Today in Rajasthan, the practice of rooftop rainwater

harvesting has gained popularity despite high water availability due to Rajasthan Canal.
(d) Today in Rajasthan, the practice of rooftop rainwater
harvesting is on decline as plenty of water is available due to Rajasthan Canal.
Q.2 answer the following questions in about 30 words.

(i) Explain how water becomes a renewable resource.

(i) Water is a renewable resource as it is renewed by water cycle itself, where three processes take
place as evaporation, condensation and precipitation. This process of water cycle is never
ending and hence, water is a renewable resource.

(ii) What is water scarcity and what are its main causes?
(ii) Scarcity of water means shortage of water, an imbalance
between demand and supply. Causes or the factors responsible for water scarcity are as follows:
1. Growing population which is the main cause of water
scarcity.
2. Urbanization and industrialization which have increased
the consumption of water.
3. Wastage and injudicious use of water.
4. Over-exploitation and mismanagement of water
resources.
5. Unequal access to water resources.
6. In post green revolution era, the commercial crops which
are grown more, consume more water.

(iii) Compare the advantages and disadvantages of

multipurpose river projects.
(iii) The various advantages and disadvantages of multipurpose
river projects can be compared as follows:

Advantages Disadvantages
 a. Irrigation a. Natural flow of river is
b. Electricity generation affected causing poor flow
c. Water supply for of sediments also
I Industrial and domestic b. Excessive sedimentation of
purposes the reservoir
d. Flood control c. Stream beds become
e. Amusement rockier
f. Inland navigation d. Dam fragments a river thus
g. Fish breeding making it difficult for
aquatic fauna to migrate,
and for spawning
e. Reservoirs submerge the
existing vegetation and soil
leading to its decomposition
over time.
f. Deforestation and
displacement of local
people.

Q.3 Answer the following questions in about 120 words.

(i) Discuss how rainwater harvesting in semi arid regions of
Rajasthan is carried out.
(i) In semi arid regions of Rajasthan rainwater harvesting is
carried out in their own manner. Houses have traditionally constructed underground tanks or
‘tankas’ for storing rainwater which they use for drinking and other purposes. These are big and
are a part of well-developed rooftop rainwater harvesting system. These tanks are constructed
inside the main house or the courtyard and are connected to the sloping roofs of the houses
through a pipe. The rain falling on the rooftop travels down through the pipe and is stored in the
tanks (tankas). The first spell of rain is not collected as this water cleans the roof and pipes.
During summer when all other sources of water dry up, these tanks remain the best source of
water. The water is sweet and cool here and also help in keeping the houses cool due to
conduction.

(ii) Describe how modern adaptations of traditional rainwater

 harvesting methods are being carried out to conserve and
store water.
(ii) Rainwater harvesting means capturing rain when it falls. It
is done to meet the increasing demand of water as also to recharge the ground water. People
living in urban areas have realized the importance of traditional rainwater harvesting methods
like the rooftop storing method. The level of underground water in most of the urban areas has
gone down much because of the increasing population, industrialization etc.
In Gendathur village, Mysore, about 200 households have adopted the rooftop rainwater
harvesting method, thereby making village rich in rainwater. The Tamil Nadu government has
made it compulsory for all the houses to have rooftop rainwater harvesting structures.
 Agriculture

Types of Farming in India

A. Primitive Subsistence Farming:

1. This type of farming is practiced on small patches of land.
Primitive tools and family/community labour are used in this type
of farming.
2. The farming mainly depends on monsoon and natural fertility of
soil. Crops are grown as per the suitability of the environmental
condition.
3. This is also called ‘slash and burn’ agriculture. A patch of land is
cleared by slashing the vegetation and then the slashed plants are
burnt. The ash; thus obtained is mixed with the soil and crops are
grown.
4. Although there are different names for slash and burn farming in
different regions of India, the name 'Jhum Cultivation' or Jhuming
is commonly used in this context. The following table shows
various names for slash and burn farming in different countries.

B. Intensive Subsistence Farming:

1. This type of farming is practiced in densely populated areas. This

involves high degree of use of biochemical inputs and irrigation.
There is huge pressure of population on this type of farming.
Problems of Intensive Farming: Division of land through successive
generation leads to plot size getting smaller and smaller. This makes it
impossible to properly manage the farm inputs. Moreover, large-scale
farming is not possible in that case.

C. Commercial Farming:

This type of farming is done with the sole purpose of selling the farm
produce. Various modern inputs are used in this type of farming, e.g.
HYV(High Yielding Variety) seeds, chemical fertilisers, insecticides and
pesticides. Punjab, Haryana, Western UP and some parts of
Maharashtra are the areas where commercial farming is done on large
scale.
D. Plantation: In this type of farming, a single crop is grown on
a large area. Plantation requires intensive capital and a large
number of workers. Most of the produce from a plantation
is used in various industries. Tea, coffee, rubber, sugarcane,
banana, etc. are important plantation crops.

CROPPING PATTERN

India has three cropping seasons — rabi, kharif and zaid.

• Rabi:

• Rabi crops are also known as winter crops.

• They are sown from October to December and
harvested from April to June. Wheat, barley, pea, gram
and mustard are the important rabi crops.
• Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu &
Kashmir, Uttarakhan and Uttar Pradesh are the
important producers of rabi crops.

• Kharif:

• Kharif crops are also known as summer crops.

• They are sown at the beginning of monosoon and
harvested in September-October.
• Paddy, maize, jowar, bajra, tur, moong, urad, cotton,
jute, groundnut and soyabean are important kharif
crops.
 • Assam, West Bengal, coastal regions of Orissa, Andhra
Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Maharashtra, Uttar
Pradesh and Bihar are important rice growing states.
• In Assam, West Bengal and Orissa; three crops of
paddy are grown in a year. These are called Aus, Aman
and Boro.

• Zaid:
• The zaid season falls in between the rabi and kharif seasons.
• Watermelon, muskmelon, cucumber, vegetables and fodder
crops are some of the crops grown in this season.
• Sugarcane is planted in this season but takes almost a year to
grow.

Agriculture: Major Crops

Rice:
• India is the second largest producer of rice; after China.
• It requires high temperature (above 25°C), high humidity and
annual rainfall above 100 cm.
• It can be grown with the help of suitable irrigation in areas of less
rainfall.
• Rice is grown in the northern plains, northeast India, coastal areas
and deltaic regions.

Wheat:
• Wheat is the main food crop in north and north-western parts of
India.
• Wheat needs 50 to 75 cm of annual rainfall which should be
evenly distributed over the growing season.
 • The Ganga-Sutlej plains in the northwest and black soil region of
Deccan are the two important wheat-growing zones in India.
• Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan and parts of
Madhya Pradesh are the important wheat producing regions.
Millets: Jowar, bajra and ragi are the important millets grown in India.
Millets are known as coarse grains, but they have very high nutritional
value.

a. Jowar: Maharashtra is the largest producer of jowar; followed

by Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Jowar
grows in moist areas and hardly needs irrigation.
b. Bajra: Bajra grows well on sandy soil and shallow black soil.
Rajasthan is the largest producer of bajra; followed by Uttar
Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Haryana.
c. Ragi: Ragi grows in dry regions on red, black, sandy loamy
and shallow black soils. Karnataka is the largest producer of
ragi; follower by Tamil Nadu.

Maize: Maize is used both as food and fodder. It grows well in old
alluvial soil and requires a temperature range of 21°-27°C. Karnataka,
Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh are the
major maize-producing states.
Pulses: India is the largest producer of pulses in the world. It is also the
largest consumer of pulses. Pulses are usually produced in rotation with
other crops. UP, MP, Rajasthan and Karnataka are the major pulse-
producing states.
Sugarcane: Sugarcane needs hot and humid climate. It requires
temperature range of 21°-27°C and rainfall of 75 cm to 100 cm. India is
the second largest producer of sugarcane, while Brazil is the number
one. Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra
Pradesh, Bihar, Punjab and Haryana are major sugar producing states.
Oilseeds: India is the largest producer of oilseeds. Groundnut, mustard,
coconut, sesame, soyabean, castor, cotton seeds, linseed and sunflower
are the main oilseeds grown in India.
Groundnut: Groundnut accounts for about half of the major oilseeds
produced in the country. Andhra Pradesh is the largest producer of
groundnut; followed by Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Gujarat and
Maharashtra. Groundnut is a kharif crop. Linseed and mustard are rabi
crops. Sesame is a kharif crop in north and rabi crop in south. Castor is
grown both as rabi and kharif crops.
Tea: Tea plants grow well in tropical and sub-tropical climates; in deep
and fertile well drained soil. The soil should be rich in humus and
organic matter. Tea is a labour intensive industry. Assam, West Bengal,
Tamil Nadu and Kerala are major tea-producing states. The hills of
Darjeeling are famous for the unique quality of tea produced there.
India is the leading producer of tea in the world.
Coffee: Coffee is also grown in plantations. Initially, the Arabica variety
was brought from Yemen and produced in India. The cultivation of
coffee was initially introduced on the Baba Budan Hills.
Others:
• India is a producer of tropical as well as temperate fruits.
• Mangoes of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and
West Bengal, oranges of Nagpur and Cherrapunjee (Meghalaya),
bananas of Kerala, Mizoram, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.
• Lichi and Guava of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, pineapples of
Meghalaya, grapes of Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, apples,
pears, apricots and walnuts of Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal
Pradesh are in great demand the world over.
Horticulture Crops: India is the largest producer of fruits and
vegetables in the world. India produces about 13 per cent of the world’s
vegetables. It is an important producer of pea, cauliflower, onion,
cabbage, tomato, brinjal and potato.
Non-Food Crops

Rubber: Rubber is a crop of equatorial region but it is also grown

tropical and subtropical regions. It needs moist and humid climate with
rainfall more than 200 cm. A temperature range above 25°C is required
for rubber plantation. In India, rubber is mainly grown in Kerala, Tamil
Nadu, Karnataka and Andaman & Nicobar islands and also in the Garo
hills of Meghalaya. India is the fifth largest rubber producer in the
world.
Cotton: India is the third-largest producer of cotton. Cotton grows in
dry pats of black cotton soil of the Deccan plateau. High temperature,
light rainfall or irrigation, 210 frost-free days and bright sunshine are
required for the growth of cotton. The crop requires 6 to 8 months to
mature. Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Andhra
Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh are the
main cotton producing states.
Jute: Jute needs well-drained fertile soils of the flood plains. West
Bengal, Bihar, Assam, Orissa and Meghalaya are the major jute
producing states.

Bhoodan – Gramdan & Land Reforms

Land reform was the main focus of the First Five Year Plan. Vinoba
Bhave started the Bhoodan Andolan to encourage big landlords to
donate a part of their land to the landless farmers. Many people came
out in support of Vinoba Bhave and donated land.The reform was
successful in some states (like Punjab and UP) but could not be
implemented throughout the country, because of poor response by
farmers.
Green Revolution: Green Revolution was started in the 1960s and
1970s to improve farm output. Use of new technology and HYV seeds
was encouraged. Green revolution produced very good results;
especially in Punjab and Haryana.
White Revolution: White Revolution (Operation Flood) was initiated
to improve milk production in the country.
A comprehensive land development programme was launched in the
1980s and 1990s. These programmes included both institutional and
technical reforms. Provision for crop insurance was made against
drought, flood, cyclone, fire and disease. Gramin banks and
cooperative societies were opened in rural areas so that farmers could
get access to loan facilities.
Kissan Credit Card (KCC), Personal Accident Insurance Scheme
(PAIS) and many other schemes were introduced for the benefit of
farmers.
The government owned radio and TV channels broadcast special
weather bulletins and agricultural programmes. Government also
announced MSP (Minimum Support Price) so that farmers can be
saved from exploitation by middlemen.
Current Scenario:
• The growth in agricultural sector is going down.
• Reduction in import duties on agricultural products means that
farmers are facing tough competition from international markets.
• Investment is not coming into agriculture and hence employment
opportunities are also showing de-growth in this sector.
• About 63% of the total workforce was employed in agriculture in
2001. A decline agriculture can be an alarming situation because it
has wider implications for the whole economy.
• Government is making continuous efforts to modernize
agriculture.
• ICAR (Indian Council of Agricultural Research), agricultural
universities, veterinary services, animal breeding centres,
horticulture development, R& D in the field of meteorology, etc.
are given top priority with an aim to improve Indian agriculture.
Food Security

In order to ensure food security to all sections of society, the

government has carefully designed a national food security system. It
has two components:
Buffer Stock: Once the government procures food grains through FCI
(Food Corporation of India), buffer stock is maintained at various
locations. This stock is utilised in case of food shortage at any place.
This stock is also utilised in case of natural disasters; like flood and
drought.
Public Distribution System: PDS is a programme which provides food
grains and other essential commodities at subsidised prices to poor
people in rural and urban areas. A person needs to get a ratio card
made to avail the benefits of PDS. Separate cards are made for BPL
(Below Poverty Line) and APL (Above Poverty Line) families. The
PDS is also fed by the FCI.

Impact of Globalisation on Agriculture:

• Impact of globalisation is being felt since historic times.
• When European traders first came in India, black pepper and
spices were the main items of export. During British rule, India
became a net exporter of raw materials; especially cotton.
• Due to high demand of indigo in British textiles industry, the
farmers in India were forced to grow indigo. This interferred with
cereal production in India
• In the modern context, Indian farmers are unable to compete with
western farmers because of very high level of subsidies for farmers
in the west.
• Due to this, demand for Indian farm produce is very low in
international market. Moreover, excessive use of synthetic
fertilisers, irrigation, etc. has created its own problems; which are
evident by falling level of farm production.
• Too many people are dependent on farm land in India and hence
per capita farm production is forecasted to decrease further.
• Experts suggest that organic farming is the way out of the problem.

• Question 1. Multiple choice questions.

• (i) Which one of the following describes a system of agriculture
where a single crop is grown on a large area?

• (a) Shifting Agriculture

• (b) Plantation Agriculture

• (c) Horticulture

• (d) Intensive Agriculture

• Answer: (b) Plantation Agriculture

• (ii) Which one of the following is a rabi crop?

• (a) Rice (c) Millets

• (b) Gram (d) Cotton

• Answer: (b) Gram

• (iii) Which one of the following is a leguminous crop?

• (a) Pulses (c) Millets

• (b) Jawar (d) Sesamum

• Answer: (a) Pulses

• (iv) Which one of the following is announced by the government in
support of

• a crop?

• (a) Maximum support price

• (b) Minimum support price

• (c) Moderate support price

• (d) Influential support price

• Answer: (b) Minimum support price

• Question 2. Answer the following questions in 30 words.

• (i) Name one important beverage crop and specify the geographical
conditions required for its growth.

• Answer: Tea is an important beverage crop. This plant grows well in

tropical or sub tropical climates, and deep and fertile well-drained
soil which is rich in humus and organic matter.

• (ii) Name one staple crop of India and the regions where it is
produced.

• Answer: Rice is a staple food crop of India. It grows in the plains of

north and north-east India, coastal areas and the deltaic regions.

• (iii) Enlist the various institutional reform programmes introduced

by the government in the interest of farmers.

• Answer:The various institutional reform programmes introduced by

the government for the benefit of farmers are:
 (1) Crop insurance against drought, flood, fire etc.
(2) Minimum Support Price policy.
(3) Subsidy on agricultural inputs and resources such as power and
fertilisers.
(4) Kissan Credit Card and Personal Accident Insurance Scheme.

• (iv) The land under cultivation has got reduced day by day. Can you
imagine its consequences?

• Answer: (iv)A declining area of land under cultivation coupled with

increasing population have many consequences. These are:
(1) Food shortage for the rising population.
(2) Rise in price of food grains.
(3) Unemployment and loss of livelihood for farmers.
(4) Shortage of supply of raw material for agro-industries.
(5) Adverse affect on export trade as agricultural products comprise
a major section of international trade.

• Question 3. Answer the following questions in about 120 words.

• (i) Suggest the initiative taken by the government to ensure the
increase in agricultural production.

• Answer:
Various initiative taken by the government to ensure the increase in
agricultural production are:
(1) Collectivisation, consolidation of holdings, cooperation and
abolition of Zamindari etc. were given priority to bring about
institutional reforms in the country after independence.
(2) Land Reform was the main focus of our ‘First Five Year Plan’.
(3) The Green Revolution was based on the use of package
technology and the White Revolution were some of the strategies
initiated to improve the lot of Indian agriculture.
(4) Minimum Support Price policy, provision for crop insurance,
subsidy on agricultural inputs and resources such as power and
 fertilizers, Grameen Banks, Kissan Credit Card and Personal
Accident Insurance Scheme are also some of the reforms bought by
Indian Government.

• (ii) Describe the impact of globalisation on Indian agriculture.

• Answer:
• The impact of globalisation on Indian agriculture has been felt since
colonial times. Raw cotton and spices were important export items
from India. In 1917, Indian farmers revolted in Champaran against
being forced to grow indigo in place of foodgrains, in order to
supply dye to Britain’s flourishing textile industry. Thus,
globalisation has had its boons and banes for Indian agriculture.
Post liberalization, Indian farmers face new challenges in the form
of competition from highly subsidised agriculture of developed
nations. This prompts the need for making Indian agriculture
successful and profitable by improving the conditions of small and
marginal farmers, countering the negative effects of Green
Revolution, developing and promoting organic farming, and
diversifying cropping pattern from cereals to high-value crops.

• (iii) Describe the geographical conditions required for the growth of

rice.

• Answer:The geographical conditions required for growth of rice are

as follows :
(1) It is a kharif crop and requires hot and humid climate for
cultivation. Temperature above25°C and high humidity with annual
rainfall above 100 cm are favourable for growthof rice.
(2) Rich alluvial soils of the floodplains and deltaic areas which are
renewed every years areideal for rice cultivation.
(3) Rice requires abundant rainfall or good water supply through
irrigation and flooded fieldsduring the earlier part of its growing
season in June-July.
 (4) Plenty of cheap labour as most of the farming involves manual
labour.

Extra Questions and answers

Q.1 Choose the right answer from the four alternatives given
below:
(i) Which one of the following describes a system of agriculture where
a single crop is grown on a large area?
(a) Shifting Agriculture (b) Plantation Agriculture
(c) Horticulture (d) Intensive Agriculture
Ans (b)

(ii) Which of the following is a rabi crop?

(a) Rice (b) Gram (c) Millets (d) Cotton
Ans (b)

(iii) Which of the following is a leguminous crop?

(a) Pulses (b) Jowar (c) Millets (d) Sesamum
Ans (a)

(iv) Which one of the following is announced by the

government in support of a crop?
(a) Maximum support price (b) Minimum support price
(c) Moderate support price (d) Influential support price
Ans (b)

Q.2 The land under cultivation is getting reduced day-by-day.

Can you imagine its consequences?
Ans Agriculture has been the backbone of the Indian economy
and provides employment and livelihood to about two-thirds of its
population. Taking into consideration the importance, the reduction
 of land under cultivation has serious consequences. Diversion of
land for non-agriculture use like housing, industries, etc., has
resulted in reduction of net sown area and a declining trend in
productivity. As such food grain as well as commercial crop
production is declining. This will lead to:
(a) Food shortage for the rising population.
(b) Rise in price unaffordable for poor people.
(c) Unemployment and loss of livelihood for farmers.
(d) Shortage of supply of raw material for agro-industries.
(e) Adverse affect on export trade as agricultural products
comprise a major section of international trade.
(f) Strain on foreign exchange reserves as more
agriculture goods will have to be imported.

Q.3 Name one important beverage crop and specify the geographical
conditions required for its growth. Name the areas of its production.
OR
Explain the favourable temperature, rainfall and soil conditions
required for the growth of tea. Name the leading tea-producing
states.
Ans Tea is an important beverage crop of India. India is the leading
producer as well as exporter of tea in the world. Favourable
geographical conditions for growth of tea are as follows:
(i) Climate : The tea plant grows well in tropical and
subtropical climate. Tea bushes require warm (temperature
between 200C to 300C), moist (annual rainfall of 150 - 250 cm)
and frost free climate throughout the year. Frequent showers
evenly distribute throughout the year ensure continuous
supply of tender leaves.
(ii) Soil : Deep fertile, well drained soil, rich in humus and
organic matter are ideal for its growth. Hence, rolling
topography is favourable for its cultivation. Tea is
grown in big plantations originally introduced by the
British.
(iii) Area : The major tea-producing areas are in Assam and
 hills of Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri district in West Bengal.
Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerela in the south, Himachal
Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Meghalaya and Tripura are the other
tea-producing states.

Q.4 What was the impact of partition on the jute industry in

India? What has led to decline in jute production in recent times?
OR
How did the partition of the country in 1947 affect the jute
industry? What factors have resulted in decline of jute production in
recent years?
Ans The partition of the country in 1947 caused serious
problems for the jute industry. The industrial units for jute
production remained in India while the raw jute producing areas
went to Bangladesh. Hence, initially there was a serious shortage of
raw material for the jute industry, and it suffered considerably.
Gradually, the floodplains of Ganga, especially the Hooghly basin,
Mahanadi and Brahmaputra basin were brought under jute
cultivation to provide raw material for jute textile industry.
In recent years high cost of jute as compared to synthetic fibers has
led to decline in jute production. Due to this, jute is losing market to
synthetic fibers and packing materials, particularly the nylon. In face
of competition, from substitutes and from other countries like
Bangladesh and Thailand, jute is losing demand and hence, its
production is declining.

Q.5 Name one staple crop of India and the regions where it is
produced. Describe the geographical conditions required for its
growth.
OR
Which is the staple crop for majority of the people in India? What
are the geographical conditions required for its growth. Name the
major areas of its production.
OR
 Describe the temperature, rainfall and soil conditions for the growth
of rice. Name the major areas of rice production.
Ans Rice is the staple food crop of a majority of the people in
India. It is their main cereal and is a part of their every day diet.
India is the second largest producer of rice after China. It is grown
on the plains of north and northeastern India, coastal areas and
deltaic regions. West Bengal, Assam, Orissa, Bihar, Eastern Uttar
Pradesh, parts of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu and some parts
of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and eastern Madhya Pradesh are the
major areas of rice production. In Punjab, Haryana, Western Uttar
Pradesh and parts of Rajasthan, rice is grown as commercial crop
with the help of irrigation.

The geographical conditions required for growth of rice are as

follows:
(i) It is a kharif crop and requires hot and humid climate
for cultivation. Temperature above 25C and high
humidity and annual rainfall above 100 cm are
favourable for growth of rice.
(ii) Rich alluvial soils of the floodplains and deltaic areas
which are renewed every years are ideal for rice
cultivation.
(iii) Rice requires abundant rainfall or good water supply
through irrigation and flooded fields during the earlier
part of its growing season in June-July.
(iv) Plenty of cheap labour as most of the farming involves
manual labour.

Q.6 After Independence what steps were taken by

government to increase agricultural production. What is Green
Revolution? What programmes were launched in 1980s and 1990s
for improvement of agriculture?
OR
Suggest the initiative taken by the government to ensure the increase
in agricultural production.
Ans The government has taken various steps since independence to
increase agricultural production to meet the needs its growing
population. Collectivisation, consolidation of holding, cooperation
and abolition of zamindari, etc, were given priority to bring about
institutional reforms in the country after independence. Land
reform is the collective term for these institutional reforms
introduced to make farming economic and was the main focus of
our First Five Years Plan.
Some important steps included in the programme are:
(a) Provision of crop insurance against flood, drought,
cyclone, fire, diseases.
(b) Establishment of Grameen banks, Cooperative society
and banks for providing loan facilities to farmers at lower rates.
Special weather bulletin and agricultural programmes for
farmers were introduced on the radio and television.
Establishment of Indian Council of Agricultural Research
(ICAR), agricultural universities, veterinary services and animal
breeding centres, horticulture development, research and
development in the field of meteorology and weather forecast
and improvement of rural infrastructure etc, were given priority
for improving Indian agriculture and raising its productivity.

Q.7 What is the importance of using high yielding variety of seeds,

machines and other technological advancement in increasing the
agricultural production?
Enlist the various institutional reform programmes introduce by the
government in the interest of farmers.
Ans High Yielding Variety of seeds and machines form the basis
of modernization of agriculture. The government of India has
opened agricultural universities, agricultural research institutes,
agricultural farms and demonstration farms. There, the seeds are
improved and demonstration is given to the farmers for use of
fertilisers and improved seeds. They are trained to adopt new farm
machineries to increase agricultural production.
Farmers get these inputs on subsidised rates and on loan basis. This
helps them adopt these modern inputs to inputs to increase
agricultural productivity.
Various institutional reform programmes introduced by the
government in interest of the farmers are:
1. Provision for crop insurance against drought, flood,
cyclone, fire and diseases.
2. Establishment of Grameen banks, Cooperative society
and banks for providing loan facilities to farmers at lower interest
rates.
3. Kisan Credit Card, Personal Accident Insurance Scheme.
4. Special weather bulletins and agricultural programmes
for farmers on television and radio.
5. Announcement of minimum support price, remunerative
and procurement prices for important crops to check the
exploitation of farmers by speculators and middlemen.
Mineral and energy resources

Minerals

A homogenous, naturally occurring substance with definable internal structure is called mineral.

Types of Minerals

1. Metallic
a. Ferrous (containing iron): Iron ore, manganese, nickel, cobalt, etc.
b. Non-ferrous: Copper, lead, tin, bauxite, etc.
c. Precious: Gold, silver, platinum, etc.
2. Non-metallic: Mica, salt, potash, sulphur, granite, limestone, marble, sandstone, etc.
3. Energy Minerals: Coal, petroleum and natural gas

Mode of occurrence of minerals:

1. In igneous and metamorphic rocks: The smaller occurrences are called veins and the
larger occurrences are called lodes. They are usually formed when minerals in
liquid/molten and gaseous forms are forced upwards through cavities towards the earth’s
surface. Examples: tin, copper, zinc, lead, etc.
2. In sedimentary rocks: In these rocks, minerals occur in beds or layers. Coal, iron ore,
gypsum, potash salt and sodium salt are the minerals found in sedimentary rocks.
3. By decomposition of surface rocks: Decomposition of surface rocks and removal of
soluble constituents leaves a residual mass of weathered material which contains ores.
Bauxite is formed in this way.
4. As alluvial deposits: These minerals are found in sands of valley floors and the base of
hills. These deposits are called placer deposits. They generally contain those minerals
which are not corroded by water. Examples; gold, silver, tin, platinum, etc.
5. In ocean water: Most of the minerals in ocean water are too widely diffused to be of
economic importance. But common salt, magnesium and bromine are mainly derived
from ocean waters.

Iron Ore

India is rich in good quality iron ores. Magnetite is the finest iron ore with a very high content of iron
upto 70%. This iron ore is valuable for the electrical industry because of its excellent magnetic
properties. Hematite ore is the most important industrial iron ore; in terms of usage. The iron content of
hematite is 50-60%.

Major Iron Ore Belts in India

• Orissa Jharkhand Belt: Badampahar mines in the Mayurbhanj and Kendujhar districts
of Orissa have high grade hematite ore. Additionally, hematite iron ore is mined in Gua
and Noamundi in Singhbhum district of Jharkhand.
• Durg Bastar Chandrapur Belt: This belt lies in Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra. The
Bailadila range of hills in the Bastar district of Chhattisgarh have very high grade
 hematite ore. This hilly range has 14 deposits of super high grade hematite ore. Iron from
these mines is exported to Japan and South Korea via Vishakapatnam port.
• Bellary Chitradurga Chikmaglur Tumkur Belt: This belt lies in Karnataka. The
Kudremukh mines located in the Western Ghats are a 100 percent export unit. The ore
from these mines is transported as slurry through a pipeline to a port near Mangalore.
• Maharashtra Goa Belt: This belt inculdes the state of Goa and Ratnagiri district of
Maharashtra. The ores in these mines are not of very high quality. They are exported
through Marmagao port.

Manganese

Manganese is mainly used in the manufacturing of steel and ferro-manganese alloy. It is also used in
making bleaching powder, insecticides and paints.

Copper

Copper is mainly used in electrical cables, electronics and chemical industries. The Balaghat mines in
Madhya Pradesh produce 52% of India’s copper. Rajasthan is the next leading producer with about
48% share. Copper is also produced in the Singhbhum district of Jharkhand.

Aluminium

Aluminium is lightweight yet strong and hence is used in a variety of applications. Amarkantak
plateau, Maikal hills and the plateau region of Bilaspur-Katni are the main areas of bauxite deposits.
Orissa is the leading producer of bauxite in India with 45% share. Panchpatmali in Koraput district is
the most important centre of bauxite deposit in Orissa.

Mica

Mica is a mineral which is made up of a series of plates or leaves. The mica sheets can be so thin that a
thousand of them can be layered into a few centimetre thick mica sheet. Mica has excellent di-electric
strength, low power loss factor, insulating properties and resistance to high voltage. Mica is widely
used in electric and electronic industries.

Mica deposits are found in the northern edge of the Chota Nagpur plateau. Koderma-Gaya-Hazaribagh
belt of Jharkhand is the leading producer of mica. Ajmer in Rajasthan and Nellore in Andhra Pradesh
are the other important producers of mica.

Hazards of Mining

Mining is a hazardous industry; both for the workers and for the residents. The Miners have to work
under tough conditions where no natural light is available. There is always a risk of collapse of mine
 roof, inundation with water and fire. The areas around mines face the problem of too much dust from
the mines. Slurry from mines damages the roads and the farmland. Houses and clothes become dirty
more often than in other areas. Miners are at great risk of getting afflicted with pulmonary disorders.
Cases of respiratory tract diseases are very high in mining areas.

Conservation of Minerals

It takes millions of years for the formation of minerals. Compared to the present rate of consumption,
the replenishment rate of minerals is very slow. Hence, mineral resources are finite and non-renewable.
Due to this, it is important that we conserve the mineral resources.

Energy Resources

Conventional Energy Resources: Firewood, cattle dung cake, coal, petroleum, natural gas and
electricity (both hydel and thermal)

Non-conventional Energy Resources: Solar, wind, tidal, geothermal, biogas and atomic energy.

Firewood and cattle dung cake: As per estimates, more than 70% of energy need in rural households
is met by firewood and cattle dung cake. A decreasing forest area is making it difficult to use firewood.
Dung cake can be put to better use in the form of manure and hence its use should also be discouraged.

Coal:

India is highly dependent on coal for meeting its commercial energy requirements. Depending on the
degree of compression during its formation, there are varieties of coal.

a. Lignite: It is a low grade brown coal. It is soft and has high moisture content. Neyveli in
Tamil Nadu has the main reserves of lignite coal. This type of coal is used for electricity
generation.
b. Bituminous coal: Coal which was formed because of increased temperature and was
buried very deep is called bituminous coal. This is the most popular coal for commercial
use. High grade bituminous coal is ideal for use in metallurgy.
c. Anthracite coal: This is the highest quality hard coal.

In India, coal occurs in rock series of two main geological ages. The Gondwana coal was formed over
200 million years ago. The tertiary deposits are about 55 million years old. The major sources of
Gondwana coal are located in the Damodar valley (West Bengal-Jharkhan). In this belt; Jharia,
Raniganj and Bokaro are important coalfields. Coal deposits are also present in the Godavari,
Mahanadi, Son and Wardha valleys.
 Tertiary coal is found in the north-eastern states of Meghalaya, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and
Nagaland.

Petroleum

After coal, the next major energy resource in India is petroleum. Petroleum is a major source of fuel
for various uses. Petroleum also provides raw materials for various manufacturing industries; like
plastic, textiles, pharmaceuticals, etc.

Most of the petroleum in India occurs in anticlines and fault traps in the rock formations of the tertiary
age. The oil bearing layer is a porous limestone or sandstone through which oil may flow. The
intervening non-porous layers prevent the oil from rising or sinking. Petroleum is also found in fault
traps between porous and non-porous rocks. Gas usually occurs above the oil because it is lighter than
oil.

Mumbai High produces about 63% of India’s petroleum, Gujarat produces 18% and Assam 13%.
Ankeleshwar is the most important oil field in Gujarat. Assam is the oldest oil producing state of India.
Important oil fields of Assam are Digboi, Naharkatiya and Moran-Hugrijan.

Natural Gas

Natural gas is found alongwith or without petroleum. It is used as fuel and also as industrial raw
material. Large reserves of natural gas have been discovered in the Krishna-Godavari Basin. Gulf of
Cambay, Mumbai High and Andaman Nicobar islands are also important areas with large reserves of
natural gas.

The 1700 km long Hazira-Vijaipur-Jagdishpur pipeline links Mumbai High and Bassein with the
fertiliser, power and industrial complexes in western and northern India. Natural gas is mainly used by
the fertiliser and power industries. Now-a-days, use of CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) is increasing as
vehicle fuel in the country.

Electricity

Electricity is generated mainly by two methods; by running water which drives hydro turbines and by
burning other fuels like coal, petroleum and natural gas to drive turbines. Bhakra Nangal, Damodar
Valley Corporation, Kopili Hydel Project, etc. are major hydroelectric producers in the country. At
present, there are over 300 thermal power stations in India.

Non-conventional Sources of Energy

 Nuclear Energy: Nuclear energy is obtained by altering the structure of atom. When the structure of
an atom is altered, too much energy is released in the form of heat. This heat is utilised to generate
electric power. Uranium and Thorium are used for generating atomic power. These minerals are
available in Jharkhand and the Aravalli ranges of Rajasthan. The Monazite sand of Kerala is also rich
in Thorium.

Solar Energy: Photovoltaic technology is used to convert solar energy into electricity. The largest
solar plant of India is located at Madhapur near Bhuj. Solar energy holds great promises for the future.
It can help in minimizing the dependence on firewood and animal dung cakes in rural areas. This will
also help in conservation of fossil fuels.

Wind Power: India now ranks as a “Wind Super Power” in the world. The wind farm cluster in Tamil
Nadu (from Nagarcoil to Madurai) is the largest cluster in India. Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat,
Kerala, Maharashtra and Lakshadweep are also important centres of wind power production.

Biogas: Biogas can be produced from shrubs, farm waste, and animal and human waste. Biogas is
more efficient than kerosene, dung cake and charcoal. Biogas plants can be set up at municipal,
cooperative and individual levels. The gobar gas plants provide energy and also manure.

Tidal Energy: Floodgate dams are built across inlets. The water flows into the inlet during high tide
and gets trapped when the gate is closed. Once the tide recedes, the gates are opened so that water can
flow back to the sea. The flow of water is used to run the turbine to generate electricity. A 900 mw
tidal energy power plant is set up by the National Hydropower Corporation in the Gulf of Kuchchh.

Geo Thermal Energy: We know that the inside of the earth is very hot. At some places, this heat is
released on the surface through fissures. Groundwater in such areas becomes hot and rises up in the
form of steam. This steam is used to drive turbines. Two experimental projects have been set up in
India to harness geothermal energy. They are; the Parvati valley near Manikarn in Himachal Pradesh
and the Puga Valley in Ladakh.
Ques1:
(i) Which one of the following minerals is formed by decomposition of rocks, leaving a residual mass of
weathered material?
(a) coal
(b) bauxite
(c) gold
(d) zinc
Ans: (b) bauxite
(ii) Koderma, in Jharkhand is the leading producer of which one of the following minerals?
(a) bauxite
(b) mica
(c) iron ore
(d) copper
Ans: (b) mica
(iii) Minerals are deposited and accumulated in the stratas of which of the following rocks?
(a) sedimentary rocks
(b) metamorphic rocks
(c) igneous rocks
(d) none of the above
Ans: (a) sedimentary rocks
(iv) Which one of the following minerals is contained in the Monazite sand?
(a) oil
(b) uranium
(c) thorium
(d) coal
Ans: (c) thorium

Ques 2: Answers the following Quess in about 30 words:

(i) Distinguish between the following in not more than 30 words.
(a) Ferrous and non-ferrous minerals
(b) Conventional and non-conventional sources of energy.
Ans: (a)
Ferrousminerals Non-ferrousminerals

Metallic minerals which

contain iron are called ferrous Metallic minerals which do
minerals, e.g. iron ore, not contain iron are called
manganese, nickel, cobalt, non-ferrous minerals, e.g.
etc. copper, bauxite, tin, etc.
(b)
Conventional Sources of Non-conventional Sources
Energy of Energy

Conventional sources of
energy are those sources Non-conventional sources of
which have been use since energy have generally been
the early times. identified in the recent past.

They are exhaustible except

hydro-energy. They are inexhaustible.

They cause pollution when

used as they emit smoke and Generally these are
ash. pollution-free.

Their generation and use

involve huge expenditure. Low expenditure required.

Very expensive to maintain,

store, transmit as they are
carried over long distances Less expensive due to local
through transmission grids. use and easy maintenance.

Examples are – geothermal

energy, solar energy, wind
Examples are – coal, natural energy, tidal energy, biogas
gas, water, fire-wood. energy, nuclear energy.
(ii) What is a mineral?
Ans:A mineral is a homogeneous, naturally occurring substance with a definable interior structure.
(iii) How are minerals formed in igneous and metamorphic rocks?
Ans:In igneous and metamorphic rocks, molten/liquid and gaseous minerals are forced upwards into the cracks.
They then solidify and form veins or lodes.
(iv) Why do we need to conserve mineral resources?
Ans:It takes millions of years for the formation of minerals. Compared to the present rate of consumption, the
replenishment rate of minerals is very slow. Hence, mineral resources are finite and non-renewable. Due to this, it is
important that we conserve the mineral resources.

Ques 3:Ans: the following Quess:

(i) Describe the distribution of coal in India.
Ans: → The major resources of metallurgical coal belong to the Gondwana age and are locatedmainly in the north
eastern part of the peninsula.
→ Rich reserves of coal are found in theDamodar Valley region in the states of West Bengal and Jharkhand.
Raniganj in WestBengal and Jharia and Bokaro in Jharkhand are important coalfields. One third of the totalproduction
comes from here.

→ Coal is also found in the Godavari, Mahanadi, Son and Wardha valleys. Korba inChhattisgarh, Singrauli and
Penah-kanhan valley in Madhya Pradesh, Talcher in Orissa,Kamptee and Chandrapur in Maharashtra and Singareni
of Andhra Pradesh are importantcoal mines.

→ Tertiary coal occur in the north eastern states of Meghalaya, Assam, Arunachal Pradeshand Nagaland.

→ Principal lignite reserves are found in Neyveli in Tamil Nadu.

(ii) Why do you think that solar energy has a bright future in India?
Ans: Solar energy has a bright future in India because –
→ India being a tropical country receives sunlight in abundance throughout the year.

→ Solar plants can be easily established in rural and remote areas.

→ It will minimize the dependence of rural households on firewood and dunk cakes which in turn will contribute to
environmental conservation and adequate supply of manure in agriculture.

Extra questins

Q.1 What is a mineral ?

Ans Natural substances having definite chemical composition. Industrial development depends upon
the availability of minerals, e.g., Manganese, Copper, Silver.

Q.2 How are minerals formed in igneous and metamorphic rocks?

Ans In Igneous and Metamorphic rocks, minerals may occur in the cracks, crevices, faults or joints.
The minerals in liquid, molten and gaseous forms are forced through cavities towards the earth’s
surface. They cool and solidify as they rise. The smaller occurrences are called veins but the
larger ones are called lodes.

Q.3 Name four important iron-ore producing states of India.

Ans Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Karnataka and Goa.

Q.4 For What purpose is Bauxite or Aluminium mainly used?

Ans It is mainly used in utensils ,Air Craft and Electrical Industry.

Q.5 Name three most important coal producing in India.

Ans Jharkhand,Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgrah.

Q.6 Why do we need to conserve mineral resources?

Ans (a) Minerals are non-renewable and exhaustible.
(b) Minerals are unevenly distributed.
(c) Minerals are needed for industrialisation and economic development.
(d) Recycling of metals,using scrao metals & other substitutes are steps towards mineral
conservation.
Q.7 Distinguish between
(i) ferrous and non-ferrous minerals.
Ans
Ferrous Minerals Non-Ferrous Minerals
1.Minerals which have iron content. 1.Minerals which do not have iron content.
2.They help in the developmentof 2.They play an important role in a number of
metallurgical industries, e.g. Iron ore, metallurgical,engineering and electrical industries
manganese. like copper, lead, zinc, gold.

(ii) Conventional and non-conventional sources of energy.

Ans
Conventional Sources of Energy Non-conventional Sources of Energy
1.Traditional source of energy produced from 1.Recently developed source of energy
coal, petroleum and gas. developed from the Sun, wind, tides etc.
2.It is non-renewable. 2.It is renewable.
3.Generally costly and prices still rising. 3.They are cheapest source of energy.

4.They pollute the atmosphere on a large scale. 4.They are pollution free sources.
Q.8 Explain how coal is formed .Name its different variety.
Ans Coal is found in sedimentary rocks and is formed due to compression of plant material over
millions of years. Therefore, coal is found in a variety of forms depending on the degrees of
compression and the depth and time of burial. It is the most abundantly available fossil fuel. It is
used for power generation, to supply energy to industry as well as for domestic needs. There are
four main varieties of coal in India.
(a) Anthracite
(b) Bituminous
(c) Lignite
(d) Peat

Q9 Why do you think that solar energy has a bright future in India?
Ans Solar energy is the most abundant, inexhaustible and universal source of energy. India is a
tropical country, therefore, a lot of solar energy is available here. The photovoltaic technology
converts sunlight directly into electricity. The Thar desert has become the biggest solar power
energy house of India. It is used for cooking, pumping water, street lighting and electronic
equipments. In Bhuj district of Gujarat it is used for sterilising milk cans. India is a developing
country so there is a possibility that the demand for power will increase considerably.
Conventional sources of energy are in short supply. So solar energy is a non-conventional source
and also eco-friendly.
 Manufacturing Industries

Classification of Manufacturing Industry

Manufacturing: Production of goods in large quantities after processing the raw materials into
more valuable products is called manufacturing.

Importance of Manufacturing

• Manufacturing industries help in modernizing agriculture; which forms the backbone

of our economy..
• Industrial development helps in eradication of unemployment and poverty.
• Export of manufactured goods expands trade and commerce and brings in much
needed foreign exchange.
• A country with high level of manufacturing activities becomes prosperous.

Contribution of Industry to National Economy

• The share of manufacturing sector in the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) has been
stagnant at 17% over the last two decades. The total contribution of industry to the
GDP is 27% out of which 10% comes from mining, quarrying, electricity and gas.

• The growth of the manufacturing sector had been 7% in the last decade. Since 2003,
the growth rate has been 9 to 10% per annum. The desired growth rate over the next
decade is 12%.

Industrial Location

Some of the factors which affect the industrial location are as follows:
a) Availability of raw materials
b) Availability of labour
c) Availability of capital
d) Availability of power
e) Availability of market
f) Infrastructure

• Sometimes, industries are located in or near cities. Cities provide markets and also
provide services like banking, insurance, transport, labour, consultants, etc. Many
industries tend to come together to make use of the advantages of an urban centre.
Such centre is then called as agglomeration economy.
Classification Of Industries:

A. On the basis of raw materials:

a. Agro Based Industries: Cotton, woolen, jute, silk textile, rubber, sugar, tea,
coffee, etc.
b. Mineral Based Industries: Iron and steel, cement, aluminium, petrochemicals,
etc.

B. According to their main role:

a. Basic or Key Industries: These industries supply their products or raw

materials to manufacture other goods, e.g. iron and steel, copper smelting,
aluminium smelting.
b. Consumer Industries: These industries produce goods which are directly used
by consumers, e.g. sugar, paper, electronics, soap, etc.

C. On the basis of capital investment:jjh

a. Small Scale Industry: If the invested capital is upto Rs. one crore, then the
industry is called a small scale industry.
b. Large Scale Industry: If the invested capital is more than Rs. one crore, then
the industry is called a large scale industry.

D. On the basis of ownership:

a. Public Sector: These industries are owned and operated by government

agencies, e.g. SAIL, BHEL, ONGC, etc.
b. Private Sector: These industries are owned and operated by individuals or a
group of individuals, e.g. TISCO, Reliance, Mahindra, etc.
c. Joint Sector: These industries are jointly owned by the government and
individuals or a group of individuals, e.g. Oil India Limited.
d. Cooperative Sector: These industries are owned and operated by the
producers or suppliers of raw materials, workers or both. The resources are
pooled by each stakeholder and profits or losses are shared proportionately.
AMUL which is milk cooperative is a good example. The sugar industry in
Maharashtra is another example.

E. On the basis of bulk and weight of raw materials and finished goods:
A Heavy Industries: Iron and steel.

B Light Industries: Electronics

 Textile Industry

• The textile industry contributes 14% to industrial production in India.

• In terms of employment generation, this industry is the second largest after

agriculture. 35 million persons are directly employed in the textiles industry in India.

• The contribution of textiles industry to GDP is 4%. This is the only industry in the
country which is self-reliant and complete in the value chain.

Cotton Textiles: Cotton textiles were traditionally produced with hand spinning and
handloom weaving techniques. Power-looms came into use after the 18th century. During the
colonial period, the competition of mill-made cloth from England destroyed the Indian textiles
industry.

At present, there are 1600 cotton and synthetic textile mills in India. Almost 80% of them are
in the private sector. The rest are in the public sector and cooperative sector. Additionally,
there are several thousand small factories with four to ten looms.

Location of Cotton Textile Industry:

• This industry was earlier concentrated in the cotton belt of Maharashtra and Gujarat.

• Availability of raw materials, port facilities, transport, labour, moist climate, etc. were
in favour of these locations. The industry provides a source of livelihood to farmers,
cotton boll pluckers and workers engaged in ginning, spinning, weaving, dyeing,
designing, packaging, tailoring and sewing.

• This industry supports many other industries; like chemical and dyes, mill stores,
packaging materials and engineering works.

• Spinning still continues to be centralized in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu.

However, weaving is highly decentralized and there are many weaving centres in the
country.

• India exports cotton yarn to Japan. Cotton goods are also exported to USA, UK,
Russia, France, East European countries, Nepal, Singapore, Sri Lanka and African
countries.

• At around 34 million, India has the second largest installed capacity of spindles in the
world; after China. India accounts for one fourth of the world trade in cotton yarn.
 Problems in cotton textile industry: Erratic power supply and obsolete machinery
are the major problems. Low output of labour and stiff competition; with the synthetic
fibre are the other problems.

Jute Textiles

India is the largest producer of raw jute and jute goods in the world. It is the second largest
exporter of jute; after Bangladesh. Most of the 70 jute mills in India are located in West
Bengal; mainly along the bank of Hooghly. The jute industry is in a narrow belt which is 98 km
long and 3 km wide.

Location advantages of Hooghly basin: Proximity of the jute producing areas, inexpensive
water transport, good rail and road network, abundant water for processing raw jute and
cheap labour from West Bengal, Bihar, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh.

The jute industry directly supports 2.61 lakh workers. It also supports 40 lakh small and
marginal farmers who are engaged in cultivation of jute and mesta.

Challenges for Jute Industry

Jute industry is facing challenge from synthetic fibre and also from other competitors like
Bangladesh, Brazil, Philippines, Egypt and Thailand. But the internal demand has been rising
because of government policy of mandatory use of jute packaging. The National Jute Policy
was formulated in 2005 with an objective to increase productivity, improve quality and ensure
good prices for the jute farmers. Due to growing global concern for environment friendly and
biodegradable material; the future of jute looks bright. USA, Canada, Russia, UAE, UK and
Australia are the main markets.

Sugar Industry

• India is the second largest producer of sugar in the world.

• It is the largest producer of gur and khandsari.

• There are over 460 sugar mills in the country.

• They are spread over Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu,
Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh.

• Sixty percent mills are in UP and Bihar. This industry is seasonal and hence is more
suited to the cooperative sector.
 • In recent years, there has been a growing tendency to shift and concentrate in the
southern and western states; especially in Maharashtra. The cane produced in this
region has higher sucrose content. The cooler climate of this region ensures a longer
crushing season.

Challenges for Sugar industry: Seasonal nature of industry, old and inefficient methods of
production, transport delay and the need to maximize the use of baggase are the major
challenges for this industry.

Mineral Based Industries

A. Iron and Steel Industry

• Iron is required for making machineries for all other industries hence it is the basic
industry. Due to this, production and consumption of steel is often regarded as the
index of a country’s development.

• India is 9th among the world crude steel producers and produces 32.8 million tons of
steel. India is the largest producer of sponge iron. But per capita consumption of steel
is only 32 kg per annum.

• At present, there are 10 primary integrated steel plants in India. Additionally, there are
many mini steel plants in the country. SAIL (Steel Authority of India Limited) is the
major public sector company in this sector, while TISCO (Tata Iron and Steel
Company) is the major private sector company in this industry.

• Most of the iron and steel industries are in the Chhotanagpur plateau region.

• This region has plenty of low cost iron ore, high grade raw materials, cheap labour
and good connectivity through railways and roadways.

Reasons for underperformance of Iron and steel Industry in India:

a. High cost and limited availability of coking coal

b. Low productivity of labour
c. Erratic energy supply
d. Poor infrastructure

Aluminium Smelting

• Aluminium smelting is the second most important metallurgical industry in India.

Aluminium is often turned into alloy and then used for making various products.
 • There are 8 aluminium smelting plants in India, located in Orissa (NALCO and
BALCO), West Bengal, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Tamil
Nadu. India produced over 600 million tones of aluminium in 2004.

Chemical Industries

The chemical industry contributes about 3% to the GDP. The chemical industry of India is the
third largest in Asia and is at twelfth position in the world.

A. Inorganic Chemicals: Sulphuric acid, nitric acid, alkalies, soda ash and caustic
soda are the inorganic chemicals. Sulphuric acid is used to manufacture
fertilisers, synthetic fibres, plastics, adhesives, paints, dye stuffs. Soda ash is
used to make glass, soaps and detergents, paper, etc.

B. Organic Chemicals: These include petrochemicals. Petrochemicals are used

for manufacturing synthetic fibres, synthetic rubber, plastics, dye-stuffs, drugs
and pharmaceuticals. Organic plants are located near oil refineries or
petrochemical plants.

The chemical industry is usually its own largest consumer.

Fertiliser Industry

• Fertiliser industry is centred around the production of nitrogenous fertilisers,

phosphatic fertilisers and ammonium phosphate and complex fertilisers. Complex
fertilisers have a combination of nitrogen (N), phosphate (P) and potash (K). Potash is
entirely imported because India does not have any reserves of commercially viable
potash or potassium compounds.

• India is the third largest producer of nitrogenous fertilisers. There are 57 fertiliser units
which manufacture nitrogenous and complex nitrogenous fertilisers. Out of them, 29
units manufacture urea and 9 manufacture ammonium sulphate as by-product. There
68 small units which produce single superphosphate.

Cement Industry

• Cement industry requires bulky raw materials like limestone, silica, alumina and
gypsum.

• There are many cement plants in Gujarat because of proximity to ports.

• There are 128 large and 323 mini cement plants in India.
 • Improvement in quality has found the Indian cement a readily available market in East
Asia, Middle East, Africa and South Asia. This industry is doing well in terms of
production as well as export.

Automobile Industry

• Almost all types of vehicles are manufactured in India.

• After liberalization in 1991, many automobile manufacturers set up their base in India.

• With the launch of contemporary models, India became an attractive market for
automobiles.

• At present, there are 15 manufacturers of cars and multi-utility vehicles, 9 of

commercial vehicles, 14 of two and three-wheelers. Delhi, Gurgaon, Mumbai, Pune,
Chennai, Kolkata, Lucknow, Indore, Hyderabad, Jamshedpur, Bangalore, Sanand,
Pantnagar, etc. are the major centres of automobile industry.

Information Technology and Electronics Industry

• Bangalore is often termed as the electronic capital of India.

• Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Lucknow and Coimbatore are
the other important centres.

• There are 18 software technology parks in the country and they provide single window
service and high data communication to software experts.

• This industry had generated a large number of employments.

• Upto 31 March 2005, over one million persons were employed in the IT industry.
Because of fast growth of BPO (Business Process Outsourcing); this sector has been
a major earner of foreign exchange.

Industrial Pollution and Environmental Degradation

Air Pollution: High proportion of carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide and carbon monoxide
create air pollution. Suspended particulate matters also create problems. Smoke is emitted
from chimneys of various factories. Some industry also pose the risk of leak of hazardous
chemicals; the way it happened during the Bhopal Gas Tragedy. Air pollution has adverse
effect on human health, animals, plants, buildings, and the atmosphere as a whole.
 Water Pollution: Organic and inorganic industrial wastes and effluents cause water pollution.
Paper, pulp, chemical, textile, dyeing, petroleum refineries, tanneries, etc. are the main
culprits of water pollution.

Thermal Pollution of water: It occurs when hot water from factories or thermal plants is
drained into rivers and ponds before cooling. This plays havoc with the aquatic life.

Radioactive Waste: Waste from nuclear power plants contains highly radioactive materials
and it needs to be properly stored. Any leakage of radioactive material can cause short term
and long term damages to humans as well as to other life forms.

Noise Pollution: Noise pollution can result in constant irritation, hypertension and hearing
impairment. Factory equipments, generators, electric drills, etc. are the major sources of
noise pollution.

Preventing Environmental Degradation by Industry:

• Water should be reused and recycled in the industry. This will help in minimizing the
use of freshwater.
• Rainwater harvesting should be promoted.
• Hot water and effluents should be treated before being released in rivers and ponds.

Extra questions

Q.1 What is manufacturing ?

Ans Manufacturing refers to conversion of raw materials to more valuable products and
transforming into finished goods that are produced on large scale.

Q.2 What states in India are most famous for their cotton textile industry?
Ans Gujarat and Maharashtra

Q.3 Which are the three silk yarn producing states of India?
Ans Karnataka, West Bangal, Jammu Kashmir.

Q.4 Where and when was the first steel industry setup in India?
Ans At Jamshedpur in Jharkhand in 1907.

Q.5 Where was the first cement factory setup in India and When?
Ans At Channai in 1904.

Q.6 Name any three physical factors for the location of the
industry.
Ans Physical factors of industrial location are:
(a) Availability of raw materials (b)Power
(c) Climate
Q.7 Name any four human factors for the location of an industry.
Ans Human factors for industrial location are :
(a) Skilled & cheap labour
(b) Capital
(c) Market
(d)Availability of services such as banking,insurance,transport etc.

Q.8 What are basic industries? Give an example.

Ans Basic industries provide tools, machines and implements to manufacture other goods, e.g., Iron
and steel industry.

Q.9 Name the important raw materials used in the manufacturing of cement?
Ans Cement industry requires gypsum, limestone, silica, alumina and coal or electric power as raw
materials.

Q10 How are integrated steel plants different from mini steel plants? What problems does the
industry face?
Ans Mini steel plants are decentralised, small, secondary units having electric furnaces which
produce steel using scrap and sponge iron. They produce mild and alloy steel of various kinds.
Integrated steel plants on the other hand are large, handle everything in one complex– from
transport of raw material to steel making, rolling and shaping metal. The problems faced by the
Iron and Steel plants are :
(a) High costs and lack of availability of coking coal.
(b) Low efficiency of labour.
(c) Erratic supply of energy resources.
(d) Poor infrastructure.

Q11 How do industries pollute the environment ?

Ans Industries cause four different kinds of pollution, namely, air, water, thermal and noise
pollution.
(a)Air pollution is caused by the presence of undesirable gases beyond certainlevels like sulphur
dioxide and carbon monoxide and by the leakage of poisonous gases and hazardous chemicals.
(b) Water pollution is caused by discharge of industrial effluents into rivers. Industries like
paper, chemical, textile and dyeing, tanneries, petroleum refining, detergents and soaps let out
chemical and solid wastes and pollute the waterbodies.
(c) Thermal pollution is caused by discharge of hot water from factories into rivers and ponds,
affecting the aquatic life. Wastes from nuclear power plants, chemicals cause land and soil
pollution.
(d) Noise pollution is caused by Undesirable noise produced from industries like
generators,factory equipment, drills, construction activities cause impairment of hearing, blood
pressure,increased heart-beat and other health problems.
 Power Sharing
Power sharing is the very spirit of democracy. A democratic rule involves sharing
power with those affected by its exercise, and who have to live with its effects. All
communities, social groups get their say in the governance. People have a right to be
consulted on how they are to be governed. A legitimate government is one where
citizens acquire a stake in the system; through participation.

Power Sharing in India:

India is a democratic country. People of India elect their representative through direct
franchise. After that, people’s representatives elect the government to make or
amend rules & regulations and to carry out day to day functioning of governance.

One basic principle of democracy is that people are the source of all political power.
In a democracy, people rule themselves through institutions of self-governance. In a
good democratic government, due respect is given to diverse groups and views that
exist in a society. Everyone has a voice in the shaping of public policies. Therefore, it
follows that in a democracy political forms of power sharing should be distributed
among as many citizens as possible.

Need of Power Sharing

(1) Power sharing helps in reducing the conflict between various social groups. Hence,
power sharing is necessary for maintaining social harmony and peace.
(2) Power sharing helps in avoiding the tyranny of majority. The tyranny of majority not
only destroys the minority social groups but also the majority social group.
(3) People’s voice forms the basis of a democratic government. Hence, power sharing
is essential to respect the spirit of democracy.
(4) Avoiding conflict in society and preventing majority tyranny are considered as
prudential reasons for power sharing. Maintaining the spirit of democracy is
considered as the moral reason for power sharing.

Forms of Power Sharing:

(1) Power Sharing in Different Organs of Government:

Power is shared among different organs of government, such as the legislature,

executive and judiciary. This type of distribution can be called the horizontal
distribution of power. This type of power sharing allows different organs of
government placed at the same level to exercise different powers.

Such a separation ensures that unlimited power is not vested in any organ of the
government. This ensures a balance of power among various institutions. The
executive enjoys official power but is answerable to the legislature. The legislature
has the right to make or amend laws but it is answerable to the people. The judiciary
is independent and ensures that the law of the land is obeyed by legislature and
executive.
(2) Power Sharing at Different Levels:
Power can be shared among governments at different levels. Usually a central
government is responsible for the entire nation and state governments are responsible
for different units of the federation. There is clear cut demarcation on subjects which
come under the union government and those which come under the state government.
However, there are some subjects which come under the concurrent list, i.e. both state
and central governments exercise power on such subjects.

(3) Power Sharing Among Social Groups:

Power may also be shared among different social groups. In a diverse country; like
India; there are various social, linguistic and caste groups and power is shared
among each group. For example; people from the minority communities, OBCs, and
SC & ST are given reservation so that there could be adequate representation for
them in the government machinery.

(4) Power sharing Among Various Pressure Groups:

Power sharing among various political parties is more apparent for most of the
people. Usually the largest political party or the largest political coalition becomes the
ruling party. The other parties form the opposition. While opposition is not in power, it
is responsible for seeing to it that the ruling party functions as per the wishes of the
people. Heads of various committees comes from various political parties; which is
another way of sharing power among different political parties.

Pressure groups also get their share in power. For example; the trade unions,
ASSOCHAM, students’ union, etc. get some power by certain mechanisms.
 Representatives of these associations become part of many decision making bodies
and thus enjoy their share of power.
QUESTIONS WITH ANSWERS

Ques 1. State one prudential reason and one moral reason for power sharing with an example
from the Indian context.

Answer:
(1) Prudential Reason: Power sharing helps in reducing the conflict between various
social groups. Hence, power sharing is necessary for maintaining social harmony and
peace.
(2) Moral Reason: The avoiding conflict in society and preventing majority tyranny are
considered as prudential reasons for power sharing. Maintaining the spirit of democracy
is considered as the moral reason for power sharing.

Q1. Describe the different forms of power-sharing in modern democracies. Give an example
of each of these. (CBSE Sample Paper)

Ans. In modern democracies, power-sharing arrangements can take many forms –

(i) Among different organs of government : Power is shared among the legislature,
executive and judiciary. This is called horizontal distribution of power because it allows
the three organs of government placed at the same level to exercise different powers. Each
organ checks the others, no organ can exercise unlimited power.

(ii) Among governments at different levels : Here power is shared among governments at
the provincial or regional level and a general government for the entire country, called
Federal Government. In India, we call it Central or Union Government. In India, the
government at the provincial level is called State government. The Constitution clearly
lays down powers of different levels of government. The third level of government is
called municipality and panchayat. This arrangement is called vertical division of power.

(iii) Among different social groups : Power may also be shared among different social
groups, such as the religious and linguistic groups. For example, Community Government
in Belgium. In India, weaker sections of society have ‘reserved constituencies’ in
Assemblies and the Parliament. They also have ‘reserved seats’ in government jobs.

(iv) Among political parties, pressure groups and movements :

Power is shared among various political parties that represent different ideologies and
social groups. Interest groups such as those of traders, businessmen, industrialists,
farmers and individual workers also have share in governmental power, either through
participation in governmental committees or bringing influence on the decision
making process.

Q.2. Bring out the main features of the Belgian model of governance.
Ans. Between 1970 and 1993, the Belgian leaders amended their Constitution four times to work
out a consensus.
(i) The Belgian Constitution prescribes that the number of Dutch and French -speaking
ministers shall be equal in the central government. Important laws can be passed only with
the support of majority of members from each linguistic group.
(ii) Many powers of the central government have been delegated to state governments of the
two regions of the country. The State governments are not subordinate to the central
government.

(iii)Brussels has a separate government in which both the communities have equal
representation.

(iv)Apart from the central and the state governments, there is a third kind of government in
Belgium, called the ‘Community government’. This government is elected by the people
belonging to one language community – Dutch, French and German-speaking – no matter
where they live.

Q.3. What do we learn from the story of Sri Lanka? Should India fo llow the Belgian model?
(HOTS)
Ans. The distrust between the two communities in Sri Lanka turned into a widespread conflict. It
soon turned into a civil war in which thousands of people of both the communities were killed,
thousands became homeless and were forced to leave the country as refugees. The story of Sri
Lanka teaches us the lesson of sharing power among various communities. Various prudential
and moral reasons for power sharing are desirable to ensure stability of the political order,
unity and integrity of the country. The rule of majority community leads to conflict in society
and eventually to a bloody civil war.
India should not follow the Belgian model as it is not suitable for a large multilingual and multireligious
country like ours. Our Constitution is best suited and most appropriate for Indian society
and culture. Belgian model of power sharing is quite complicated and not suitable for India.

Q.4. What could ethnic problem lead to in Belgium and Sri Lanka?
Ans. In both countries, there could be tension and conflict between different ethnic groups. In
Belgium, the majority community of Dutch-speaking people could try to dominate the French
and German-speaking people. This could lead to conflict — specially in Brussels. Brussels
could have been partitioned as the ratio of the Dutch and the French was different from the
rest of the country.
In Sri Lanka, the Sinhalese people, already in majority, could try further to dominate the Tamilspeaking
people. It could even lead to a war.
Thus, size and population do not matter. Ethnic divisions, if not handled with patience and
common sense, can lead to a civil war, division of the country and conflict between
communities.
Q.5. Give instances to show how Sri Lanka has imposed ‘majoritarianism’.
Ans. (i) Sri Lanka had a 74% population of Sinhala-speaking people. From the day it became
independent, it imposed the majority rule in Sri Lanka.
(ii) It changed the Constitution to make Sinhala the official language, Buddhism the official
religion.
(iii) It totally ignored Tamil culture, language, and gave preference in jobs to Sinhala -speaking
people.
(iv) It also gave no importance to Hinduism, Islam or Christianity.
Q.6. In what way was the Belgian method better?
Ans. The Belgians gave equal importance to all the ethnic groups. At the Centre, there were both
French and Dutch ministers, and their number was equal.

1. The Centre and the states had equal and independent powers.
2. If new laws were made, they had to be passed with the majority in both ethnic groups-voting for
them.
3. A separate government was elected for the city of Brussels.
 4. A third community government was elected, comprising Dutch, French and Germanspeaking
people. It looked after the language, culture and educational issues.
In short, the Belgians wisely tried to avoid all tensions and conflicts by accommodating the
needs and wishes of all ethnic groups.

Q.7. Here are some examples of power-sharing. Which of the four types of power sharing
do
these represent ? Who is sharing pow er with whom?
5. (i) The Bombay High Court ordered the Maharashtra state government to immediately take
action and improve the living conditions for the 2,000 -odd children at seven children’s
homes in Maharashtra.

(ii) The government of Ontario state in Cana da has agreed to a land claim settlement with
the
aboriginal community. The Minister responsible for Native Affairs announced that the
government will work with aboriginal people in a spirit of mutual respect and cooperation.
6. (iii) Russia’s two influential political parties, The Union of Right Forces and the Liberal
Yabloko Movement, agreed to unite theirorganisations into a strong right -wing coalition.
They propose to have a common list of candidates in the next parliamentary elections.
7. (iv) The finance ministers of various states in Nigeria got together and demanded that the
federal government declare its sources of income. They also wanted to know the formula
by which the revenue is distributed among various state governments.
8. Ans. (i) The state judiciary is exercising its power to control the state executive by asking the state
government to look into the conditions of its 2,000 children’s home. There is no powersharing
between different organs of government.
(ii) The aboriginal people have exercised pressure on the government to agree to their land
claims. So power is shared by a social group with the government.
(iii) In this case, two political parties have formed a coalition and are sharing power with
mutual consent.
(iv) In the last example, power is being shared at different government levels, the state or
regional groups are demanding the government at the Centre to declare its sources of
income, so that they can have a larger share of finances for their respective states.
Q.8. How has the idea of power-sharing changed with time?
Ans. For a long time, it was believed that all power of a government must reside in one person or
group of persons located at one place. It was felt that dispensing powers would delay in
decision-making and their enforcement. But these notions have changed with the emergence
of democracy. One basic principle of democracy is that people are the source of all political
power. In a good democratic government, due respect is given to diverse groups and views that
exist in a society. Everyone has a voice in the shaping of the public policies.
Q.9. One of the ways in which power-sharing is done in Indian democracy is by providing
reservations for the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and OBCs. Now the Muslims
and Christian dalits are asking for reservations. Is this demand of power sharing
justified? (HOTS)
Ans. Initially, when the reservation of seats was done for the socially weaker sections, the intention
of the Constitution was to bring an end to the alienation being faced by the so-called weaker
communities, and to bring them at par with the other communities. But in my opinion, it has
now become more of a political gimmick, a means to collect votes, than to genuinely work for
their development. It may encourage more and more communities to demand for reservations,
thus leading to widening of social division. This is a sort of negative power -sharing in my
opinion. Some more positive steps need to be taken to encourage power -sharing as early as
possible.
Federalism

Introduction:Federalism

Federalism is a system of government in which the power is divided

between a central authority and various constituent units of the country.
Usually, a federation has two levels of government. One is the
government for the entire country that is usually responsible for a few
subjects of common national interest. The others are governments at the
level of provinces or states that look after much of the day-to-day
administering of their state. Both these levels of governments enjoy their
power independent of the other.

The Indian Federation

The word ‘federation’ has not been used in the constitution of India, but
the Indian Union was formed on the basis of federalism.
The Constitution originally provided for a two-tier system of government.
The Union Government or Central Government represents the Union of
India and the State governments represent the provinces. Later, a third
tier was added in the federation; with the formation of Panchayats and
Municipalities.

Key Features of Federalism:

• There are two or more levels (or tiers) of government.

• Different tiers of government govern the same citizens, but each
tier has its own jurisdiction in specific matters of legislation,
taxation and administration.
• The jurisdictions of the respective levels or tiers of government
are specified in the constitution. So the existence and authority
of each tier of government is constitutionally guaranteed.
• The fundamental provisions of the constitution cannot be
unilaterally changed by one level of government. Such changes
require the consent of both the levels of government.
• Courts have the power to interpret the constitution and the
powers of different levels of government. The highest court acts
 as an umpire if disputes arise between different levels of
government in the exercise of their respective powers.
• Sources of revenue for each level of government are clearly
specified to ensure its financial autonomy.
• The federal system thus has dual objectives: to safeguard and
promote unity of the country, while at the same time
accommodate regional diversity.

Therefore, two aspects are crucial for the institutions and practice of
federalism. Governments at different levels should agree to some rules of
power sharing. They should also trust that each would abide by its part of
the agreement. An ideal federal system has both aspects: mutual trust
and agreement to live together.
Balance of Power:
The exact balance of power between the central and the state
government varies from one federation to another. This balance depends
mainly on the historical context in which the federation was formed.
There are two kinds of routes through which federations have been
formed; which are as follows:

a. Coming together federations: This type of federation exists in

the USA, Switzerland and Australia. Independent states came
together on their own to form a bigger unit so that they could
increase their security; while maintaining their sovereignty. In
this type of federation, the constituent states have equal power
and are stronger vis-à-vis the central government.
b. Holding together federation: This type of federation exists in
India, Spain, Belgium, etc. In this case, power is shared among
various social groups to accommodate a huge diversity. In this
type of federation, the central government is more powerful than
the state government. Different constituents of the federation
may have unequal powers. Some units are granted special
powers, e.g. the case of Jammu & Kashmir in India.

List of Jurisdiction:
Union List: Union List includes subjects of national importance; such as
defence of the country, foreign affairs, banking, communications and
currency. They are included in this list because we need a uniform policy
on these matters throughout the country. The Union Government alone
can make laws relating to the subjects mentioned in the Union List.
State List: State List contains subjects of State and local importance
such as police, trade, commerce, agriculture and irrigation. The State
Governments alone can make laws relating to the subjects mentioned in
the State List.
Concurrent List: Concurrent List includes subjects of common interest
to both the Union Government as well as the State Governments, such
as education, forest, trade unions, marriage, adoption and succession.
Both the Union as well as the State Governments can make laws on the
subjects mentioned in this list. If their laws conflict with each other, the
law made by the Union Government will prevail.
Residuary List: Anything out of purview of above mentioned list is taken
as residuary subject. Union Government has the power to legislate on
these subjects.
Special Status: Jammu and Kashmir has its own Constitution. Many
provisions of the Indian Constitution are not applicable to this State
without the approval of the State Assembly. Indians who are not
permanent residents of this State cannot buy land or house here. Similar
special provisions exist for some other States of India as well.
Union Territories: There are some units of the Indian Union which enjoy
very little power. These are areas which are too small to become an
independent State but which could not be merged with any of the existing
States. These areas, like Chandigarh, or Lakshadweep or the capital city
of Delhi, are called Union Territories. These territories do not have the
powers of a State. The Central Government has special powers in
running these areas.
This sharing of power between the Union Government and the State
governments is basic to the structure of the Constitution. It is not easy to
make changes to this power sharing arrangement. The Parliament cannot
on its own change this arrangement. Any change to it has to be first
passed by both the Houses of Parliament with at least two-thirds majority.
Then it has to be ratified by the legislatures of at least half of the total
States.

Reasons for Success of Federalism in India

Linguistic States: The creation of Linguistic States was the first and a
major test for democratic politics in our country. This was done to ensure
that people who spoke the same language lived in the same State. Some
States were created not on the basis of language but to recognise the
differences based on culture, ethnicity or geography, e.g. Nagaland,
Uttarakhand and Jharkhand.
Language policy: A second test for Indian federation is the language
policy. Our Constitution did not give the status of national language to
any one language. Hindi was identified as the official language. But Hindi
is the mother tongue of only about 40 per cent of Indians. Therefore,
there were many safeguards to protect other languages. Besides Hindi,
there are 21 other languages recognised as Scheduled Languages by the
Constitution. Hindi was not imposed on non-Hindi areas for most of the
period after the independence.
Centre-State relations: Restructuring the Centre-State relations is one
more way in which federalism has been strengthened in practice.

Situation during Congress Monopoly:

For a major period; after independence; same party was in power in both
centre and states in most parts of the country. Those were the days of
Congress monopoly in India. In those days, the central government often
undermined the rights of the state governments. Many states were
brought under President’s rule at slight pretext of assertiveness from the
state government.

Situation in the Era of Coalition Government:

After 1989, the pattern has shifted to multi-party coalition government at

the centre. As a result a new culture of power sharing and respect for the
autonomy of State Governments has developed. It can be said that now
the federalism is more developed in India.
Linguistic diversity of India
As per the latest Census Report, 1991 of India held in 1991 there are
1500 distinct languages. These languages were grouped together under
some major languages. For example languages like Bhojpuri, Magadhi,
Bundelkhandi, Chhattisgarhi, Rajasthani, Bhili and many others were
grouped together under ‘Hindi’. Even after this grouping, the Census
found 114 major languages. Of these 22 languages are now included in
the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution and are therefore called
‘Scheduled Languages’. Others are called ‘non- Scheduled Languages’.
In terms of languages, India is perhaps the most diverse country in the
world.

Decentralisation in India:

A vast country like India cannot be run only through two-tiers of

government as discussed above. Some of the Indian states are bigger
than independent countries of Europe. The population of Uttar Pradesh is
more than that of Russia. These states are internally very diverse in
terms of variety of dialects, eating habits and culture.
Hence, a need for creating a third tier of government was always being
felt. There are many local issues which can only be solved by a local
governing body. It is also possible to ensure direct participation of people
in such a governing body.
A major step towards decentralisation was taken in 1992. The
Constitution was amended to make the third-tier of democracy more
powerful and effective. The local governing bodies were given
constitutional status.

a. Now it is constitutionally mandatory to hold regular elections to

local government bodies.
b. Seats are reserved in the elected bodies and the executive
heads of these institutions for the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled
Tribes and Other Backward Classes.
 c. At least one-third of all positions are reserved for women.
d. An independent institution called the State Election Commission
has been created in each State to conduct panchayat and
municipal elections.
e. The State governments are required to share some powers and
revenue with local government bodies. The nature of sharing
varies from State to State. Rural local government is popularly
known by the name panchayati raj.
f. Each village, or a group of villages in some States, has a gram
panchayat. This is a council consisting of several ward
members, often called panch. The president of the panchayat is
called sarpanch.
g. Members of a panchayat are directly elected by the all the
adults who are living in the panchayat.
h. The local government structure goes right up to the district
level. A few gram panchayats are grouped together to form
what is usually called a panchayat samiti or block or mandal.
The members of this representative body are elected by all the
panchyat members in that area. All the panchayat samitis or
mandals in a district together constitute the zilla (district)
parishad. Most members of the zilla parishad are elected.
Members of the Lok Sabha and MLAs of that district and some
other officials of other district level bodies are also its members.
Zilla parishad chairperson is the political head of the zilla
parishad.

Similarly, local government bodies exist for urban areas as well.

Municipalities are set up in towns. Big cities are constituted into municipal
corporations. Both municipalities and municipal corporations are
controlled by elected bodies consisting of people’s representatives.
Municipal chairperson is the political head of the municipality. In a
municipal corporation such an officer is called the mayor.
Panachyat---Panchayat samiti-----Zilla parishad------Zilla District---Collector--MP--
MLA

Questions with answers

Question 1: What is the main difference between a federal form of

government and a unitary one? Explain with an example.
Answer
In a federal form of government, the central government shares its
powers with the various constituent units of the country. For example,
in India, power is divided between the government at the Centre and
the various State governments.
In a unitary form of government, all the power is exercised by only one
government. For example, in Sri Lanka, the national government has
all the powers.

Question 2: State any two differences between the local government

before and after the constitutional amendment in 1992.
Answer
Local
governments Local
BEFORE the governments AFTER
Constitutional the Constitutional
amendment in amendment in 1992
1992
It is mandatory to hold
Elections were
regular elections to
not held
local government
regularly.
bodies.
Local The State
governments governments are
did not have required to share
any powers or some powers and
resources of revenue with local
their own. government bodies.

Question 3: A few subjects in various Lists of the Indian Constitution

are given here. Group them under the Union, State and Concurrent
Lists as provided in the table below.
A. Defence
Β. Police
C. Agriculture
D. Education
E. Banking
F. Forests
G. Communications
H. Trade
I. Marriages
Union
List -
State
List -
Concurr
ent List -
Answer
Union Defence, Banking,
List Communications
State
Police, Agriculture, Trade
List
Concurr
Education, Forests, Marriages
ent List
Political Parties

Introduction

A political party is a group of people who share the common ideaology and
agenda,and they contest election to hold power.

A political party is a group of people who come together to contest elections and
hold power in the government. They agree on some policies and programmes for
the society with a view to promote the collective good.
A political party tries to convince people that its policies are better than others’
policies. They try to win elections so that they can implement their policies.
campagning
Thus, parties reflect fundamental political divisions in a society. Parties are about a
part of the society and thus involve PARTISANSHIP. Thus a party is known by
which part it stands for, which policies it supports and whose interests it upholds.
A political party has three components:

• The Leaders
• The Active Members and
• The Followers

Functions of Political Party:

The main function of a political party is to occupy political offices and exercise
political power. For achieving this, a political party performs following functions:
Contesting Elections: Political parties contest elections. A political party nominates
its candidate for the electoral contest in various constituencies.
Policies: Political parties put forward different policies and programmes so that the
voters can choose from them. A political party brings a large number of similar
opinions under one umbrella. These opinions are channelized to form policies
and programmes. The policies and prgrammes of the RULING PARTY are
expected to be followed by the government.
Making Law: Political parties play a decisive role in making laws for the country.
You may be aware that it is the legislature which passes a law after proper debate.
 As most of the members belong to political parties, so a political party has direct
say in law making for the country.
Judicial review
Formation of Government: Political parties form and run governments. The
executive body is formed by people from the ruling party. Various political leaders
are assigned different ministries to carry out the task of governance.
Playing Opposition: A party which does not get majority or come under the
majority coalition, needs to play the role of opposition.
Shaping Public Opinion: Political parties shape public opinion. They do so by
raising and highlighting issues in the legislature and in the media. The activists of a
political party are spread all over the country. These activists raise public
awareness for their party’s perspective.
Providing Access to Government Machinery: Political parties provide people
access to government machinery and welfare schemes implemented by
governments. Parties need to be responsive to people’s needs and demands. This
helps them in winning the election.

Necessity of Political Party:

If there were no political party, then each and every candidate would be
independent. Current strength of the Lok Sabha is 543. Imagine a situation when
none of the 543 members can be brought to think alike on a particular issue. This
would lead to a total chaos. An independent candidate would always be more
interested in the specific needs of his constituency and would seldom think about
the larger interest of the nation. A political party is necessary to bring diverse
people on a common platform, so that bigger issues can be taken care of.
The democracy which is being practiced all over the world is called representative
democracy. In this system, governance is done through people’s representative
because it is impossible for each citizen to directly participate in governance. The
need for representative democracy has given rise to political parties.

Multi-party System Vs Two-party System

In some countries only one party is allowed to control and run the government,
e.g China. These are called one-party systems. This cannot be a good option
 because this is not a democratic option. Any democratic system must allow at least
two parties to compete in elections and provide a fair chance for the competing
parties to come to power.
In some countries, power usually changes between two main parties. Such a party
system is called two-party system. The United States of America and the United
Kingdom are examples of two-party system.
If several parties compete for power, and more than two parties have a reasonable
chance of coming to power either on their own strength or in alliance with others,
we call it a multi-party system. Thus in India, we have a multi-party system. During
the heydays of the Congress in India, it used to be single party government at the
centre. But after the 1996 general elections, no single party has been able to secure
even a simple majority. Subsequent central governments have thus been formed
by coalition of like-minded political parties.
The multi-party system is apparently very messy and it often leads to political
instability. But we should acknowledge the fact that it allows various interests and
opinions to enjoy political representation.

Evolution of Party System in a Country

A particular party system takes time to evolve in a country. It depends on the

nature of society, social and regional diversities. It also depends on its history of
politics and its system of elections. India is a country of huge geographical and
social diversity. Such diversity may not be easily accommodated by two or even
three parties. It is quite natural that a multi-party system has evolved in India. We
should keep in mind that each system has its pros and cons.

Popular Participation in Political Parties:

In India the common perception is, political parties are facing a crisis because they
are very unpopular and the citizens are indifferent to political parties.
The available evidence shows that this belief is only partly true for India. The
evidence, based on a series of large sample surveys conducted over several
decades, shows that:

a. Political parties do not enjoy much trust among the people in South
Asia. The proportion of those who say their trust in political parties is
 ‘not much’ or ‘not at all’ is more than those who have ‘some’ or ‘great’
trust.
b. The same is true of most other democracies as well. Political parties are
one of the least trusted institutions all over the world.
c. Yet the level of participation in the activities of political parties was fairly
high. The proportion of those who said they were members of some
political party was higher in India than many advanced countries like
Canada, Japan, Spain and South Korea.
d. Over the last three decades the proportion of those who report to be
members of political parties in India has gone up steadily.
e. The proportion of those who say they feel ‘close to a political party’ has
also gone up in India in this

National Political Parties:

Every party in the country has to register with the Election Commission. While the
Commission treats all parties equally, it offers some special facilities to large and
established parties. These parties are given a unique symbol – only the official
candidates of that party can use that election symbol. Parties that get this privilege
and some other special facilities are ‘recognised’ by the Election Commission for
this purpose. That is why these parties are called, ‘recognised political parties’.
State Party: A party that secures at least 6 per cent of the total votes in an election
to the Legislative Assembly of a State and wins at least two seats is recognised as a
State party.
National Party: A party that secures at least six per cent of total votes in Lok Sabha
elections or Assembly elections in four States and wins at least four seats in the
Lok Sabha is recognised as a national party.
According to this classification, there were six national recognised parties in the
country in 2006.

• Indian National Congress (INC): This is popularly known as the

Congress Party. This is one of the oldest parties of the world and was
founded in 1885. The Congress Party had played a dominant role in
Indian politics at the national and state level for several decades after
India’s Independence. Since the first general elections in 1952, the
Congress party had been in power continuously till 1977. After that, it
came back to power in 1980 and remained till 1989. The Congress
Party once again came back to power in 1991 for another five years.
 Congress Party came back in power in 2004 and completed two terms
in office, i.e. ten years.
• Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP): This party was founded in 1980 by
reviving the erstwhile Bharatiya Jana Sangh. Building a strong and
modern India is the main goal of this party. The BJP wants to promote
cultural nationalism (or ‘Hindutva). This party wants full territorial and
political integration of Jammu and Kashmir with India, a uniform civil
code and a ban on religious conversions. It support base increased
significantly in the 1990s. The Party came to power in 1998 and
remained in power till 2004. This party stormed back to power in
centre in 2014.
• Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP): This party was formed in 1984 under the
leadership of Kanshi Ram. The party seeks to represent and secure
power for the bahujan samaj which includes the dalits, adivasis, OBCs
and religious minorities. This party has good presence in Uttar Pradesh
and has been in power in UP for a couple of terms.
• Communist Party of India - Marxist (CPI-M): This party was founded
in 1964. Marxism- Leninism is the main philosophy of this party and it
supports socialism, secularism. The party enjoys strong support in West
Bengal, Kerala and Tripura, especially among the poor, factory
workers, farmers, agricultural labourers and the intelligentsia. The CPI
has off late slipped in its hold over public and has lost power in West
Bengal and Kerala.
• Communist Party of India (CPI): This party was formed in 1925. It has
the same philosophy as CPI (M). Became weak after the split in the
party in 1964 that led to the formation of the CPI(M). Significant
presence in the states of Kerala, West Bengal, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh
and Tamil Nadu. Its support base had gradually declined over the
years. It secured about 1.4 per cent votes and 10 seats in the 2004 Lok
Sabha elections. Advocates the coming together of all left parties to
build a strong left front. Initially supported the UPA government from
outside, but withdrew support in late 2008.
• Nationalist Congress Party (NCP): This party was formed in 1999
following a split in the Congress party. The party espouses democracy,
Gandhian secularism, equity, social justice and federalism. This is a
major party in Maharashtra and has a significant presence in Meghalaya,
Manipur and Assam.
• Rise of Regional Parties: Many regional parties have grown in prominence
over the last three decades. This is a sign of expansion and deepening of
 democracy in India. Many regional satraps are very strong in their states.
Samajwadi Party, Biju Janata Dal, AIADMK, DMK, etc. are examples of
regional parties.
• Challenges to political parties:
• Some of the challenges which the political parties face are as follows:
• Lack of Internal Democracy: In most of the political parties, the power is
concentrated in the hands of one or a handful of leaders. Ordinary members
of the party cannot even dream of rising to the top. The top leadership is
often disconnected with the grassroots workers. Loyalty to the policies and
principles of the party has less value than the loyalty to the top leadership.
• Dynastic Succession: The top positions in many political parties are usually
controlled by members of one family. A person born in a particular family
becomes the leader by virtue of his birth; which is not the sign of a healthy
democracy. This tendency is present in most of the political parties in India.
This is not the case in India alone, but in many other countries as well.
• Money and Muscle Power: Winning an election is the ultimate challenge for
a political party. For this, a political party leaves no stone unturned and
spends huge sum of money on electioneering. Parties often take help of
criminals and goons to terrorise voters and polling officers.
• Being a Meaningful Choice: Most of the political parties sound similar to one
another. Very few political parties give any real alternative. People have no
choice than choosing the better of the two evils. In some states, the party in
power just changes every five year but people seldom experience change on
the ground.

Way to Reform Political Parties:

Following are some of the recent efforts and suggestions in our country to reform
political parties and its leaders:

1. Anti-defection Law: This law was passed during Rajiv Gandhi's

Premiership. The law says that if any MLA or MP changes parties, he or
she will lose the seat in the legislature. This new law has helped bring
 defection down. At the same time this has made any dissent even more
difficult. MPs and MLAs have to accept whatever the party leaders
decide.
2. Details of Property and Criminal Proceedings During Nomination: It is
mandatory for every candidate who contests elections to file an
AFFIDAVIT giving details of his property and criminal cases pending
against him. The new system has made a lot of information available to
the public. But there is no system of check if the information given by
the candidates is true.
3. Mandatory Organizational Elections and IT Returns: The Election
Commission passed an order making it necessary for political parties to
hold their organisational elections and file their income tax returns. The
parties have started doing so but sometimes it is mere formality.

Suggestions for Future:

a. A law should be made to regulate the internal affairs of political parties.

b. It should be made mandatory for political parties to give a minimum
number of tickets, about one-third, to women candidates.
c. There should be state funding of elections. The government should
give parties money to support their election expenses. This support
could be given in kind: petrol, paper, telephone etc. Or it could be
given in cash on the basis of the votes secured by the party in the last
election.

There are two other ways in which political parties can be reformed and they are;
people’s pressure and people’s participation.
Q.1: State the various functions political parties perform in a democracy

Ans: Following are the major functions performed by political parties:

a. They contest elections.

b. They put forward different policies and programmes among which the voters opt.

c. They play a decisive role in making laws for the country.

d. The party or parties with majority seats form and run the government.

e. They also play the role of opposition.

f. They shape public opinion.

g. They provide people access to government machinery and welfare schemes.

Q.2: What are the various challenges faced by political parties? Ans: (a) The parties
are

lacking internal democracy, which keeps many prospective leaders deprived of their
rights.

(b) There have been dynastic successions in the political parties. This keeps the
parties

deprived of apt leadership.

(c) The parties sometimes, indulge in the use of money and muscle power for wining

elections. This hampers development and is against the spirit of democracy.

(d) There are not much ideological differences among the various parties. So, there
is a lack

of meaningful choices before the voters.

Q.3: Suggest some reforms to strengthen parties so that they perform their functions
well.

Ans: Suggestions to reform political parties –

(i) It should be made necessary for political parties to regulate the internal affairs of
political

parties. It should be made compulsory for political parties to maintain a register of

its

members.

(ii) Parties should be asked to give at least one third of the seats to women.

(iii) There should be state funding of elections. The government should give parties
money to

meet their election expenses.

(iv) Ordinary citizens, media, and movements can play an important role by
pressurizing parties

to bring in reforms.

Q.4: What is a Political Party?

Ans: A political party is a group of people with common ideology who come
together to

contest elections, and hold power in the government. A political party has three
components

1. The leaders

2. The active members

3. The followers.

Q.5: What are the characteristics of a political party?

Ans: Following are some characteristics of a political party –

1. They agree on some policies and programmes for the society with a view to
promote

collective good.

2. Since there are different views on what is good for all, parties try to persuade
people why

their policies are better than others.

3. They seek to implement these policies by winning popular support through

elections.

4. Parties are a part of society and thus involve partisanship.

5. A party is generally known by what it stands for, which policies it supports and
whose

interests it upholds.

6. A party runs with the help of its leaders, active members, and supporters.
 Gender Religion and Caste
Sexual Division of Labour:
A system in which all work inside the home is either done by the women of the family, or organised by them

through the domestic helpers.

Feminist Movements: Various movements which are aimed at ensuring equal rights for women are called

feminist movement.

Political expression of gender question helped a lot to improve women’s role in public life. Although the Indian

society is still a patriarchal society, yet women are now working in many fields.

Women face disadvantage, discrimination and oppression in various ways:

a. The literacy rate among women is only 54 per cent compared with 76 per cent among men.
b. The percentage of women in highly paid jobs is still very small. At many workplaces, women are
paid less than men for the same job. An Indian woman usually works more hour than an average
man on a daily basis.
c. Many Indian parents prefer to have a male child. A girl child is killed before her birth in many cases.
This has led to an eschewed sex ratio in India.
d. There are many reports of harassment against women; both on the domestic front and outside the
home.

Women’s political representation:

The political representation of women had been very poor in the Indian legislatures. Even in the cabinet, the

number of women ministers is very low.

One-third of seats in local government bodies have been reserved for women candidates. This has helped in

increasing women’s representation in panchayats and municipalities.

A bill for providing one-third reservation in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies has been pending in the

Parliament for more than a decade. Political parties are yet to arrive at consensus on this issue.
Religion & Politics:
Religion also plays an important role in politics. In some countries, politicians promote the cause of the majority

religious group at the cost of the minorities. This produces a dangerous trend of majority tyranny.

Communalism: When one religion is pitted against another; by the political class, this is called communalism or

communal politics.

Communalism can take various forms in politics:

a. Many people think of their religion as superior to all other religions. Such people often try to dominate
the people from other communities. This can result in people from the minority community to form a
separate political unit.
b. Sometimes, sacred symbols, religious leaders, emotional appeal, etc. are used to instill a sense of fear
among people of a particular community. This is done with an attempt to polarize people on communal
lines.
c. Communalism can also take the ugly form of communal violence, riots and massacre.

Percentage of Different Religions in Indian Population (REF:

census India)
Secular state
a. The Constitution of India declares that India is a secular state. Unlike some of the neighbouring
countries, there is no official religion for the Indian state.
b. The constitution gives the people the freedom to practice a religion of their choice. The Constitution
prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion.
c. The Indian constitution, however, allows the state to intervene in the matters of religion whenever
there is a need to ensure equality within religious communities.

Caste and politics

Social division on the lines of caste is unique to India. The caste system of the present has evolved from the varna

system which was based on occupations and on the principle that an occupation passed from one generation to

another. Members of a particular caste usually have a sense of belonging to their own community. Some castes

are accorded a higher status compared to many other castes.

Current Status of Caste Related Prejudice:

• Due to various socio-economic changes, social division on the basis of caste has been blurring in
recent times. Economic development, large scale urbanization, literacy, occupational mobility and
weakening of the position of landlords in villages have helped in blurring the caste-based divisions.
• Caste is still an important parameter when it comes to finalizing marriages. But in most of the other
spheres of life, caste effect is apparently waning in India.
• People from the upper caste had traditionally better access to the education and hence they have
done well in economic development. People from the oppressed castes are still lagging behind in
socio-economic development.

Caste in Politics
a. Most of the political parties keep the caste calculation in mind while fielding a candidate from a
particular constituency.
b. Each caste group is trying to get a bigger pie of the political power by asserting its identity in various
ways.
c. Since there are so many castes, hence various caste groups have also evolved their own coalition
to get leverage in political bargaining.
d. The caste groups can be broadly divided into ‘backward’ and ‘forward’.
e. Exclusive attention to caste can produce negative results. Caste divisions often lead to social
conflict and even violence.

Caste inequality today

a. Economic inequalities exist on the basis of caste. The upper caste people are usually well off, the
backward classes come in between and the dalits and adivasis are at the bottom.
b. The percentage of people below poverty line is much higher among the lowest castes.

c. Percentage of Population Living Below Poverty

Line
Caste Rural Urban
Scheduled tribes 45.8% 35.6%
Shceduled castes 35.9% 38.3%
Other backward castes 27% 29.3%
Muslim upper castes 26.8% 34.2%
Hindu upper castes 11.7% 9.9%
Christian upper castes 9.6% 5.4%
Sikh upper castes 0% 4.9%
Other upper castes 16% 2.7%
All 27% 23.4%

d. REF: NSSO 55th round 1999 - 2000

Question 1: Mention different aspects of life in which women are discriminated or disadvantaged
in India.

In India, women are discriminated and disadvantaged n the following ways:

(a) They are not provided adequate education. Thus, the literacy rate among women i s just 54%.
(b) Most of the labour done by them is unpaid. Where they are paid for their work, they receive lesser
wages than men.
(c) Due to the preference for the boy child, female foeticide is practiced in many parts of the country.

Question 2: State different forms of communal politics with one example each.

Different forms of communal politics:

(a) The expression of communal superiority in everyday beliefs
Militant religious groups are a good example of this.

(b) The desire to form a majoritarian dominance or a separate state

Separatist leaders and political parties in Jammu and Kashmir and Central India are an example of this.

(c) The use of religious symbols and leaders in politics to appeal to the voters
This technique is applied by many politicians to influence voters from the two largest religious
communities in the country.

(d) In addition to all this, communal politics can take the form of communal violence and riots, like the
riots in Gujarat in 2002.

Question 3: State how caste inequalities are still continuing in India.

Caste inequalities have not completely disappeared from India. Even today, most people marry within
their own caste or tribe. Despite constitutional prohibition, untouchability has not ended completely .
Education is not easily available to the so called 'low castes'. Economic status is closely linked to the
caste system. In modern India, like in pre -independence India, the poor are mostly the 'low castes' while
the rich are the 'high castes', thereby sh owing that caste inequalities are still continuing in India.
Question 4: State two reasons to say that caste alone cannot determine election results in India.

Caste alone cannot determine election results in India because:

No parliamentary constituency has a clear majority of one single caste.
No party wins all the votes of a particular caste.

Question 5: What is the status of women’s representation in India’s legislative bodies?

When it comes to representation of women in legislative bodies, India is among the bottom group of
nations in the world. Women’s representation has always been less than 10% in Lok Sabha and 5% in
the State Assemblies.
On the other hand, the situation is different in the case of local government bod ies. As one-third of seats
in local government bodies (panchayats and municipalities) is reserved for women, there are more than
10 lakh elected women representatives in rural and urban local bodies.

Question 6: Mention any two constitutional provisions that make India a secular state.

Two constitutional provisions that make India a secular state are:

The Constitution provides to all individuals and communities freedom to profess, practice and propagate
any religion, or not to follow any.
The Constitution prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion.
Outcomes of Democracy

Accountable, responsive and legitimate government

The most basic outcome of democracy is that it produces a government that is

accountable to the citizens, and responsive to the needs and expectations of the
citizens.
Democratic government can apparently be less efficient than a non-democratic
government. This happens because a non-democratic government does not need
to arrive at consensus among a diverse set of people. Democracy functions on the
basis of deliberation and negotiation and hence decisions are often delayed. But
this does not mean that a democratic government is less efficient.
A non-democratic government may be able to take decisions in non time. But one
needs to assess if those decisions are acceptable to the masses or are they really
solving people’s problems.
A democratic government is more transparent than a non-democratic government.
A citizen has the right to know the processes which were followed while taking a
decision in a democratic government. Thus, a democratic government is more
accountable and responsive to its citizens.
A democratic government is legitimate government because it is elected by the
people. This is the reason that democratic governments are thriving in most of the
countries.

Economic growth and development:

Data for the fifty years between 1950 and 2000 suggests that dictatorships have
slightly higher economic growth. In most of the democracies, the economic growth
is somewhat slower. But there are many democratic countries which are among
the economic superpowers of the world. This shows that economic growth does
not depend on the form of government only. Other factors also decide the trend
of economic growth; like population size, global situation, cooperation from other
countries, economic priorities of the country, etc.
When we look at several other positive outcomes; alongwith a reasonable
economic growth; then democracy is always better than dictatorship.
Reduction of inequality and poverty:

Economic inequality has been increasing all over the world. In India, a larger
portion of the population is poor and the number of rich people is less. Moreover,
there is a large difference in the income of rich and the poor. In most of the
countries, democracy has failed in reducing economic inequalities.
Accommodation of social diversity:
Every society is full of diversities and conflicts are bound to happen among various
sections. It is impossible to fully rule out the possibility of conflicts. Bu democracy
normally develops a procedure by which there can be a healthy competition
among different sections of the society. People can learn to respect the differences
and learn to resolve conflicts in an amicable manner. In most of the democratic
countries, social diversity is accommodated peacefully. There can be some
examples where social diversity is still a big problem; like in case of Sri Lanka.
Dignity and freedom of the citizens:
Democracy has succeeded in ensuring the dignity and freedom of its citizens. Let
us take example of India. There are many social groups which had faced a long
history of oppression. Due to democratic process, a sizeable portion of these
people have been able to move up the social ladder and are in a position to assert
themselves.
Equality of Women
Because of democracy, women could be able to wage a struggle for staking their
claim to equality. In most of the democratic countries, women have succeeded in
getting equal status in the society. This is not the case in most of the autocracies.
Caste Inequalities
Caste based inequalities had been quite predominant in India. But thanks to the
democratic process, such cases have reduced to a bare minimum. People from all
castes can be seen in every sphere of life.
Question 1: How does democracy produce an accountable, responsive and
legitimate government?
Answer
Democracy produces an accountable, responsive and legitimate government by
giving the citizen the right to examine the process by which decisions are made.
These decisions are made according to norms and procedures which make the
decisions more acceptable to the people. Added to this is the basic fact that in a
democracy, the people have a right to elect their own government, and the
candidate which is elected is thought to be capable enough to fulfil the
demands of the people.

Question 2: What are the conditions under which democracies accommodate

social diversities?
Answer
Democracies accommodate social diversities when it is well understood that
democracy is not just the rule of the majority, and that the rule of the majority
is not just the rule of a single religious or social community.

Question 3: Give arguments to support or oppose the following assertions:

• Industrialised countries can afford democracy but the poor need
dictatorship to become rich.
• Democracy can’t reduce inequality of incomes between different
citizens.
• Government in poor countries should spend less on poverty reduction,
health, education and spend more on industries and infrastructure.
• In democracy all citizens have one vote, which means that there is
absence of any domination and conflict.

Answer
Industrialised countries can afford democracy but the poor need dictatorship to
become rich. This statement is incorrect as can be seen from the examples of
India and Zimbabwe. In 1947, India was included in the Third World nations,
but now, it is one of the fast-growing economies in the world. On the other
hand, Zimbabwe, which was a fairly prosperous nation, has run into huge
international debt with the progression of Robert Mugabe’s regime.
Democracy can’t reduce inequality of incomes between different citizens. This
statement is incorrect. The Minimum Wages Act enacted by the government
and other policies which regulate the basic price at which agricultural producers
and small industries sell their goods, have helped increase the per capita
income of the country, thereby making its citizens more prosperous.
Government in poor countries should spend less on poverty reduction, health,
education and spend more on industries and infrastructure. This is not a wise
option as in poor countries, the people cannot afford health and education
services.
In democracy all citizens have one vote, which means that there is absence of
any domination and conflict. This is not true as conflict can be eliminated only
in an ideal situation. In real democracies, though every person has one vote,
there are divisions among the people. These divisions lead to conflict.

Question 4: Identify the challenges to democracy in the following descriptions.

Also suggest policy/institutional mechanism to deepen democracy in the given
situations:
• Following a High Court directive a temple in Orissa that had separate
entry doors for dalits and non-dalits allowed entry for all from the same
door.
• A large number of farmers are committing suicide in different states of
India.
• Following allegation of killing of three civilians in Gandwara in a fake
encounter by Jammu and Kashmir police, an enquiry has been ordered.
Answer
The challenge to democracy in the first statement is to provide equal status to
all its citizens in spite of their caste.
The challenge to democracy in the second instance is providing farmers with
subsidies which will help them to earn profits and have a satisfactory level of
livelihood.
The challenge to democracy is to preserve the people’s trust in government
arms like the police.

Question 5: In the context of democracies, which of the following ideas is

correct − democracies have successfully eliminated:
Α. conflicts among people
Β. economic inequalities among people
C. differences of opinion about how marginalised sections are to be treated
D. the idea of political inequality
Answer
D. the idea of political inequality

Question 6: In the context of assessing democracy which among the following

is odd one out. Democracies need to ensure:
Α. free and fair elections
Β. dignity of the individual
C. majority rule
D. equal treatment before law
Answer
C. majority rule

Question 7: Studies on political and social inequalities in democracy show that

Α. democracy and development go together
Β. inequalities exist in democracies
C. inequalities do not exist under dictatorship
D. dictatorship is better than democracy
Answer
Β. inequalities exist in democracies
Development
Different persons can have different developmental goals. What
may be development for one may not be development for the
other. It may even be destructive for the other. For example; a
dam may be developmental goal for an industrialist, but the same
dam can create havoc with the life of people who need to be
evacuated in the catchment area.
Different people have different developmental needs. These
needs are based on their particular life situations. For example;
for a person in a remote village, access to an all weather road
can be the developmental goal. On the other hand, for a person
living in Delhi or Mumbai; construction of a rapid mass transit
system may be the developmental goal.
This creates a need for a development goal which can
encompass different needs of different people in a fair way.
Goals of Development:
Per Capita Income: The total income of a country divided by
the population is called the per capita income of that country.
As per the World Development Report, 2006 the per capital
income in India was Rs. 28,000 per annum.
Gross National Product: The total income generated in the
country is called Gross National Product.
Gross Domestic Product: The total income generated minus
the income generated by exports is called the Gross Domestic
Product.
Infant Mortality Rate: The number of children who die before
completing one year out of 1000 births is called the infant
mortality rate. The lesser figure is a better indicator of
development. This is an important parameter as it shows the
quality and extent of availability of healthcare in a country. As
per 2011 census, the child mortality rate in India is 30.15.
Male to Female Ratio: Number of female per thousand male is
called sex ratio. A lesser figure shows society’s aversion to a girl
child and worse condition of women in society. As per 2011
census, the sex ratio in India is 940 per thousand male.
Life expectancy: The maximum age up to which an adult lives
is called the life expectancy rate. This also shows the overall
quality of life in a country. As per 2011 census, the life
expectancy in India for males is 67 years and for females it is 72
years.
Literacy Rate: The percentage of literate people is another
important indicator of development. Education is a big leveler
as it opens newer opportunities for the educated person.
Especially in a country like India you can see many examples of
a brilliant student coming from a lower class family cracking the
IITs. Once you are in IIT then you get a bright and secure
future for you and your family. As per 2011 census, the literacy
rate in India is 74%.
Infrastructure: Roads, railways, airports, ports and power
generation are the lifelines of a nation’s economy. A better
infrastructure ensures a better economic activity leading to
overall prosperity.
Combination of Goals Needed for Development:
The above mentioned list is not all inclusive but they are more
important than other goals which are not mentioned here.
 Per capita Infant Literacy Net attendance
State income mortality rate rate ratio class 1 to 4
(2003) (2003) (2001) (1995 - 96)

Punjab 26000 49 70 81

Kerala 22800 11 91 91

Bihar 5700 60 47 41

The data given in this table shows some interesting aspects of

development. It shows the interrelationship between different
aspects of development. When per capita income is compared,
Punjab comes as the richest state among the three and Bihar is at
the bottom. In spite of being the richest state, Punjab shows a very
high child mortality rate compared to Kerala. The net attendance
ratio of children in classes 1 to 4 and literacy rate are higher in
Kerala; as compared to Punjab. This explains the significantly
higher child mortality rate in Punjab. Bihar is fairing badly against
all parameters which speaks about its poor record on Human
Development Index.
Class–X
GEOGRAPHY Development
Question 1. Development of a country can generally be
determined by
(i) its per capita income
(ii) its average literacy level
(iii) health status of its people
(iv) all the above
Answer : (iv) all the above
Question 2. Which of the following neighbouring countries has
better performance in terms ofhuman development than India?
(i) Bangladesh
(ii) Sri Lanka
(iii) Nepal
(iv) Pakistan
Answer : (ii) Sri Lanka
Question 3. Assume there are four families in a country. The
average per capita income ofthese families is Rs 5000. If the
income of three families is Rs 4000, Rs 7000and Rs 3000
respectively, what is the income of the fourth family?
(i) Rs 7500
(ii) Rs 3000
(iii) Rs 2000
(iv) Rs 6000
Answer : (iv) Rs 6000
Question 4. What is the main criterion used by the World Bank
in classifying differentcountries? What are the limitations of this
criterion, if any?
 Answer :
Per Capita Income is the main criterion used by the World Bank
in classifying different countries.The limitation of this criterion
are:
• It doesn’t show distribution of income.

• It also ignores other factors such asinfant mortality rate, literacy

level, healthcare, etc.

Question 5. In what respects is the criterion used by the UNDP
for measuring developmentdifferent from the one used by the
World Bank?
Answer :
World bank only uses per capita income for measuring
development while UNDP uses many other factors likeinfant
mortality, healthcare facility education levelwhich help in
improving the quality of life and helps in making the citizens
more productive.
Question 6. Why do we use averages? Are there any limitations
to their use? Illustrate withyour own examples related to
development.
Answer :
We use averages because they are useful for comparing differing
quantities of the same category. For example, to compute the per
capita income of a country, averages have to be used because
there are differences in the incomes of diverse people. However,
there are limitations to the use of averages. This does not show
distribution of thing between people. For an example, if a country
has very high per capita income then we can’t say that citizen
living in that country are very rich because we are not knowing
about the distribution of wealth in that country. Some people
might be richer while other people are very poorer in that
country.
Question 7. Kerala, with lower per capita income has a better
human development ranking than Maharashtra. Hence, per
capita income is not a useful criterion at all and should not be
used to compare states. Do you agree? Discuss.
Answer : No, I do not agree with the statement that per capita
income is not a useful criterion at all. Kerala, with lower per
capita income has a better human development ranking than
Punjab because, human development ranking is determined using
a combination of factors such as health, education, and income.
So, this does not imply that per capita income is not useful.
Rather, per capita income is one of the development factors and
can not be neglected. The World Bank uses per capita income as
the criterion for measuring development and comparing states.
But this criterion has certain limitations because of which
determination of Human Development Index (HDI) is done
using this criterion along with some other development factors
like health, education etc.
Question 8. Find out the present sources of energy that are used
by the people in India. What could be the other possibilities fifty
years from now?
Answer :
The present sources of energy that are used by the people of
India are electricity, coal, crude oil, cow dung and solar energy.
Other possibilities fifty years from now, could include ethanol,
bio-diesel, nuclear energy and a better utilisation of wind energy,
especially with the imminent danger of oil resources running out.
Question 9. Why is the issue of sustainability important for
development?
Consequences of environmental degradation do not respect
national or state boundaries; this issue is no longer region or
nation specific .Our future is linked together. Sustainability of
development is comparatively a new area of knowledge in which
scientists, economists, philosophers and other social scientists are
working together.
In general, the question of development or progress is perennial.
At all times as a member of society and as individuals we need to
ask where we want to go, what we wish to become and what our
goals are. So the debate on development continues.
Answer :
The issue of sustainability is important for development because
development must be in tandem with the future. If natural
resources are not sustained, then development will stagnate after a
point of time. Exploiting resources unethically will ultimately
undo the development that a country may have achieved. This is
because in the future, those resources will not be available for
further progress.
Question 10. “The Earth has enough resources to meet the needs
of all but not enough to satisfy the greed of even one person”.
How is this statement relevant to the
disscusion of development? Discuss.
Answer : The Earth has enough resources to meet the needs of
all but not enough to satisfy the greed of even one person”. This
statement is relevant to the discussion of development since both
resources and development go hand in hand. For the
sustainability of development, the maintenance of resources is
also crucial. As the statement claims, the Earth has enough
resources- renewable and non-renewable to satisfy everyone’s
needs; however, these need to be used with a view to keep the
environment protected and clean so that a balance of production
and use is maintained, and shortages are avoided.
 Question 11. List a few examples of environmental degradation
that you may have observed around you.
Answer :
Few examples of environmental degradation:
• Deforestation
• Soil erosion

• Falling levels of ground water

• Depletion of the ozone layer and combustion from automobiles

causing extreme air pollution

• Water Pollution

Question 12. For each of the items given in Table 1.6, find out
which country is at the top and which is at the bottom.
Answer:
TABLE 1.6 SOME DATA REGARDING INDIA AND ITS
NEIGHBOURS FOR 2004
HDI
Literacy Gross Rank
Per Rate for Enrolme in
Capita Life 15+ yrs nt Ratio the
Incomei Expectanc populatio for three worl
Country n US$ y at birth n levels d
Sri Lanka 4390 74 91 69
India 3139 64 61 60
Myanmar 1027 61 90 48
Pakistan 2225 63 50 35
Nepal 1490 62 50 61
Banglades 1870 63 41 53
h
(i) Per Capita Income in US$: Top country – Sri Lanka; Bottom
country – Myanmar
(ii) Life Expectancy at birth: Top country – Sri Lanka; Bottom
country – Myanmar
(iii) Literacy Rate for 15+ yrs population: Top country – Sri
Lanka; Bottom country – Bangladesh
(iv) Gross Enrolment Ratio for three levels: Top country – Sri
Lanka; Bottom country – Pakistan
(v) HDI Rank in the world: Top country – Sri Lanka; Bottom
country – Nepal
Question 13. The following table shows the proportion of
undernourished adults in India. It isbased on a survey of various
states for the year 2001. Look at the table and answer the
following questions.
State Male Female
(%) (%)
Kerala 22 19
Karnataka 36 38
Madhya Pradesh 43 42
All States 37 36
Male Female
State (%) (%)
Kerala 22 19
Karnataka 36 38
 Madhya
Pradesh 43 42
All Sates 37 46
Answer :
(i) The nutritional level of people of Kerala is quite higher than
the people – both males and females of Madhya Pradesh. Their
ratio of the under-nourished is less than that of Madhya Pradesh.
(ii)There is enough food in the country; even then 40% of the
people in the country are undernourished because:
• A large number of people are so poor that they cannot afford
nutritious food.
• Inmost of the states, the Public Distribution System (PDS) does

not function properly and the poor people cannot get cheap
food items.
• There is lack of educational and health facilities in many parts

of the country. So many people remain backward and poor. As

such, they are unable to get nutritious food.
(iii) Compare the nutritional level of people in Kerala and
Madhya Pradesh.
(iv) Can you guess why around 40 per cent of people in the
country are under nourished even though it is argued country?
Describe in your own words.
Extra questions

Q.1 Mention any two important aspects of our lives other than
income.
Ans Health and Education
Q.2 Mention two developmental goals of landless rural
labourers.
Ans (i)More days of work and better wages.
(ii)Quality education for the children.

Q.3 Define the following terms:

(i) IMR (ii) Literacy Rate (iii) NAR
Ans (i)IMR (Infant Mortality Rate)- The number of children that
die before the age of one year as a proportion of 1000 live
children born in that particular year.
(ii)Literacy Rate-The proportion of literate population in the
7 years and above age group.
(iii)NAR (Net Attendance Ratio)-The total number of
children of age group 6-10 years attending school as a
percentage of the total number of children in the same age
group.

Q.4 What is the main criterion used by the World Bank in

classifying different countries? What are the limitations of
this criterion, if any?
AnsThe average income, i.e. per capita income is the main
criterion used by the World Bank in classifying different
countries.
Limitations:
1. It’s not clear how the average income is distributed
2.It does not include other aspects like health and education
which are also important.
3. It hides the disparities .
Q.5 In what respects is the criterion used by the UNDP for
measuring development different from the one used by the
World Bank?
Ans The criterion used by the UNDP for measuring
development is different from the one used by the World
Bank in the following respects:-
The World Bank - The World Bank uses per capita income
as the sole criterion for measuring development.
The UNDP - It uses the Human Development Index (HDI)
based on a combination of factors such as health, education,
and income as the criterion for measuring development.
Thus, the UNDP does not rely solely on per capita income,
as the criterion for measuring development, as in the case
with the World Bank.

Q.6 Why do we use average? Are there any limitations to their

use?
Ans Average is a single value which summarises the
characteristics of mass of data. Since countries have different
populations, total income does not tell us what an average
person is likely to earn. This is known as the average
income. That is why we use averages or average income for
measuring development.
There are some limitations to their use such as:
1. An average is influenced by extreme values.
2. An average may not give an idea about the formation of
the series.
In other words, average income does not tell us about how
this income is distributed among the people. For example,
(a)In UP only 19% of the rural female are literate while the
national average of literacy rate of India is 64.84% for 2001.
 (b)Per capita income of Bihar for 2002-03 is Rs 5700 while
thatof India for the same year is Rs.11013.Thus, averages
hide disparities.

Q.7 Kerala, with lower per capita income has a better human
development ranking than Punjab. Hence, per capita
income is not a useful criterion at all and should not be used
to compare states. Do you agree? Discuss.
Ans No, I do not agree with the statement that per capita income
is not a useful criterion at all. Kerala, with lower per capita
income has a better human development ranking than
Punjab because, human development ranking is determined
using a combination of factors such as health, education, and
income. So, this does not imply that per capita income is not
useful. Rather, per capita income is one of the development
factors and cannot be neglected.

Q.8 Why is the issue of sustainability important for

development?
Ans Sustainability for development or sustainable development
refers to the development which is done without damaging
the environment and other resources.
The issue of sustainability is important for the development
because development must happen in relation with future. If
natural resources are not sustained, it will cause a stagnation
of development after a point of time.

Q.9 “The Earth has enough resources to meet the need of all
but not enough to satisfy the greed of even one person.”
How is this statement relevant to the discussion of
development? Discuss.
Ans This statement is relevant to the discussion of development
since both resources and development go hand in hand. As
the statement claims, our earth has enough resources -
renewable and non-renewable to satisfy everyone’s need if
we use them in an economic manner. For the sustainability
of development, the consumption and maintenance of
resources is also crucial.

Q10 Mention any four chracteristics of development.

Ans (i)Different people have different developmental goals.
(ii)What may be development for the other. It may be
destructive for the other.
(iii) Income is themost impotant component of
development, but along with income, people also seek equal
treatment, good health, peace, literacy, etc.
(iv) For development, people look at mixed goals.

Q.11What is the importance of Human Deveopment Index?

Ans (i)It indicates the level of development of a country.
(ii)It indicates to a country how far it has travelled, and how
far it has yet to travel to achive a high rank.
(iii)Through it, one come to know the important elements of
economics welfare like life expectancy, level education
attainment and the real per capita income.
Sectors of Indian Economy

Primary Sector

When the economic activity depends mainly on exploitation of natural resources then that
activity comes under the primary sector. Agriculture and agriculture related activities are the
primary sectors of economy.
Secondary Sector

When the main activity involves manufacturing then it is the secondary sector. All industrial
production where physical goods are produced come under the secondary sector.
Tertiary Sector

When the activity involves providing intangible goods like services then this is part of the
tertiary sector. Financial services, management consultancy, telephony and IT are good
examples of service sector.
Evolution of an Economy from Primary Sector Based to Tertiary Sector:

During early civilization all economic activity was in primary sector. When the food production
became surplus people’s need for other products increased. This led to the development of
secondary sector. The growth of secondary sector spread its influence during industrial
revolution in nineteenth century.

After growth of economic activity a support system was the need to facilitate the industrial
activity. Certain sectors like transport and finance play an important role in supporting the
industrial activity. Moreover, more shops were needed to provide goods in people’s
neighbourhood.

Ultimately, other services like tuition, administrative support developed.

Interdependency of Sectors:

To understand this interdependency, let us take an example of a cold drink. A cold drink
contains water, sugar and artificial flavour. Suppose if there is no sugarcane production then
procuring sugar will become difficult and costly for the cold drink manufacturer. Now to
transport sugarcane to sugar mills and sugar to the cold drink plant needs the services of a
transporter. A person or system of persons is required to maintain and monitor all these
movements of goods from farm to factory to shop in different locations. That is where role of
administrative staffs comes. Let us go back to the farmer. He also needs feritlisers and seeds
 which are processed in some factory and need to be delivered to his doorstep by some means
of transportation. Moreover, at every step of these activities we require the proper monetary
and banking system. So, in a nutshell this describes how interrelated all sectors of an economy
are.

Growth and Status of Different Sectors in India

Closely observe the given graphs. The first graph shows the rupee-wise turnover of various
sectors in 1973 and 2003. The second graph shows the share of three sectors in the GDP
during these 20 years and last graph shows share in providing employment.

The first graph shows a massive increase in turnover for all these sectors during 20 years, which
shows the way our economy grew.
 Now the third graph paints a distressing picture. The share in providing employment was not in
tune with the share in GDP. The agriculture provided employment to 75% workers and this
decreased to 60% in 2000, which is not as big a drop as agriculture’s drop in GDP contribution.
On the other hand, the growth in employment provided by other two sectors was substantially
low.
The meaning of this finding is as follows:

• Majority of people are still employed in agricultural activities. As agriculture provides

seasonal employment during cropping season so chances of hidden employment are
big. Moreover, as history suggests; a developed nation’s dependency shifts from
primary sector towards tertiary sector in all aspects of economic development, so it can
be said that India is still way behind because majority still depend on agriculture.
• Secondary and Tertiary Sector have failed to generate enough employment
opportunities making a pressure on the primary sector. Although educated and skilled
workforce does get employed in secondary and tertiary sector but for unskilled and
semi-skilled workers there is still a shortage of employment avenues.

Other Classifications of Economy

Organised Sector: The sector which carries out all activity through a system and follows the law
of the land is called organized sector. Moreover, labour rights are given due respect and wages
are as per the norms of the country and those of the industry. Labour working in organized
sector gets the benefit of social security net as framed by the Government. Certain benefits like
provident fund, leave entitlement, medical benefits and insurance are provided to workers in
the organized sector.
 These security provisions are necessary to provide source of sustenance in case of disability or
death of the main breadwinner of the family. Otherwise the dependents will face a bleak future.
Unorganised Sector: The sector which evades most of the laws and doesn’t follow the system
comes under unorganized sector. Small shopkeepers, some small scale manufacturing units keep
all their attention on profit-making and ignore their workers’ basic rights. Workers don’t get
adequate salary and other benefits like leave, health benefits and insurance are beyond the
imagination of people working in unorganized sectors.

Public Sector: Companies which are run and financed by the Government comprise the public
sector. After independence, India was a very poor country. India needed huge amount of
money to set up manufacturing plants for basic items like iron and steel, aluminium, fertilizers
and cements. Additionally, infrastructure like roads, railways, ports and airports also require
huge investment. In those days, Indian entrepreneur was not cash rich so government had to
start creating big public sector enterprises like SAIL (Steel Authority of India Limited),
ONGC(Oil & Natural Gas Commission), etc.

Private Sector: Companies which are run and financed by private people comprise the private
sector. Companies like Hero Honda, Tata, etc. are from private sectors.
Government Aided Schemes to Fight Unemployment

Government, from time to time, announces and implements various employment schemes to
fight unemployment or hidden employment to help the weaker section of society. Schemes;
like NREG (National Rural Employment Guarantee) is the latest announced by the UPA
government in 2004. Now it is known as MNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural
Employment Guarantee). This programme guarantees a minimum of 100 days of employment
to at least one person from every rural household. This is part of government’s effort to ensure
the ‘Right to Work’ to the rural poor citizen.
Class–X
ECONOMICS
SECTORS OF THE INDIAN ECONOMY
EXERCISES
Question 1. Fill in the blanks using the correct option given in the bracket:
(i) Employment in the service sector ___has not______ increased to the same extent

as production. (has / has not)

(ii) Workers in the __tertiary _______ sector do not produce goods.

(tertiary / agricultural)
(iii) Most of the workers in the _organised________ sector enjoy job security.

(organised / unorganised)

(iv) A ___large______ proportion of labourers in India are working in the unorganised

sector. (large / small)

(v) Cotton is a __natural_______ product and cloth is a _________ product.

[natural /manufactured]
(vi) The activities in primary, secondary and tertiary sectors
are___interdependent______[independent / interdependent]

Question 2. Choose the most appropriate answer.

(a) The sectors are classified into public and private sector on the basis of:

(i) employment conditions

(ii) the nature of economic activity

(iii) ownership of enterprises

(iv) number of workers employed in the enterprise

Answer: (iii) ownership of enterprises

(b) Production of a commodity, mostly through the natural process, is an

activity in _________ sector.

(i) primary

(ii) secondary

(iii) tertiary

(iv) information technology

Answer: 1)primary

(c) GDP is the total value of _________ produced during a particular year.

(i) all goods and services

(ii) all final goods and services

(iii) all intermediate goods and services

(iv) all intermediate and final goods and services

Answer: (ii) all final goods and services

(d) In terms of GDP the share of tertiary sector in 2010-11 is _________

(i) between 20 to 30 per cent

(ii) between 30 to 40 per cent

(iii) between 50 to 60 per cent

(iv) 70 per cent

Answer: (iii) between 50 per cent to 60 per cent

Question 3. Match the following:

Problems faced by farming sector Some possible measures
1. Unirrigated land (a) Setting up agro-based mills

2. Low prices for crops (b) Cooperative marketing societies

3. Debt burden (c) Procurement of food grains by government

4. No job in the off season (d) Construction of canals by the government

5. Compelled to sell their grains to (e) Banks to provide credit with low interest

the local traders soon after harvest

Answer:
Problems faced by Some possible
farming sector measures
Construction of
canals by the
1 Unirrigated land (d) government
Procurement of
food grains by
2 Low prices for crops (c) government
Banks to provide
credit with low
3 Debt burden (e) interest
No job in the off Setting up agro-
4 season (a) based mills
 Compelled to sell
their grains to the Cooperative
local traders soon marketing
5 after harvest (b) societies
Question 4. Find the odd one out and say why.
(i) Tourist guide, dhobi, tailor, potter

Answer:
1)

i) Tourist guide
Answer:
He is appointed by the government, while dhobi, tailor and potter belong to the private sector.

(ii) Teacher, doctor, vegetable vendor, lawyer

Answer:
Vegetable vendor

His is the only profession that does not require a formal education.

(iii) Postman, cobbler, soldier, police constable

Answer:
Cobbler:
The rest are workers in the public sector, while his profession is part of the private sector.

(iv) MTNL, Indian Railways, Air India, SAHARA Airlines, All India Radio

Answer:
SAHARA Airlines
It is a private enterprise, while the rest are government undertakings.

Question 5. A research scholar looked at the working people in the city of Surat and found
the following.

Percentage of working people

15

15

20

Nature of employment
Organised

Place of work
In offices and factories registered

with the government

Own shops, office, clinics in

marketplaces with formal license

People working on the street,

construction workers, domestic

workers

Working in small workshops

usually not registered with the

government

Complete the table. What is the percentage of workers in the unorganised sector in this city?

Percentage
Nature of of working
Place of work employment people
In offices and
factories registered
with the
government Organised 15
Own shops, office,
clinics in
marketplaces with
formal license – 15
People working on
the street,
construction
workers, domestic
workers – 20
Working in small
workshops usually
not registered with
the government – –
Answer:
 Percentage
Nature of of working
Place of work employment people
In offices and
factories registered
with the
government Organised 15
Own shops, office,
clinics in market
places with formal
license Organised 15
People working on
the street,
construction
workers, domestic
workers Unorganised 20
Working in small
workshops usually
not registered with
the government Unorganised 50
The percentage of workers in the unorganised sector in this city is 70%.

Question 6. Do you think the classification of economic activities into primary, secondary and
tertiary is useful? Explain how.
Answer:
The classification of economic activities into primary, tertiary and secondary is useful on account
of the information it provides on how and where the people of a country are employed. also this
helps in ascertaining as to which sector of economic activity contributes more or less to the
country’s GDP and per capita income.
If the tertiary sector is developing much faster than the primary sector, then it implies that
agriculture is depleting, and the government must take measures to rectify this. The knowledge that
the agricultural profession is becoming unpopular or regressive can only come if we know which
sector it belongs to. Hence it is necessary to classify economic activities into these there sectors for
smooth economic administration and development.

Question 7. For each of the sectors that we came across in this chapter why should one focus on
employment and GDP? Could there be other issues which should be examined? Discuss.
Answer:
For each of the sectors that we came across in this chapter, one should focus on employment and
GDP because these determine the size of a country’s economy. A focus on employment and GDP
helps determine two important things- per capita income and productivity. Hence, in each of the
three sectors, employment rate and status as well as its contribution to the GDP help us
 understand how that particular sector is functioning and what needs to be done to initiate further
growth in it.

Yes, the other issues which should be examined are –

• Balanced regional development

• Equality in income and wealth among the people of the country.
• How to eradicate poverty
• Modernization of technology
• Self-reliance of the country
• How to achieve surplus food production in the country.
Question 8. Make a long list of all kinds of work that you find adults around you doing for a
living. In what way can you classify them? Explain your choice.

Answer:
Some Samples of Work People Do and Their Classification
S. Nature of
No. Nature of work Activity Sector
Bank Clerk
Freelance
Cartoonist

Construction
Worker

Doctor in
1. AIIMS Tertiary Organized
2. Tertiary Unorganized
DTC Bus
3. Driver Secondary Unorganized

4. Farmer Tertiary Organized

5. Guest House Tertiary Organized

Receptionist
6. Primary Unorganized
Mine Worker
7. Tertiary Unorganized
Own Tailoring
8. Shop Primary Unorganized

9. Public Sector Tertiary Unorganized

Factory
10. Supervisor Secondary Organized
Question 9. How is the tertiary sector different from other sectors? Illustrate with a fewexamples.
Answer:The tertiary sector different from other two sectors. This is because other two sectors
produce goods but, this sector does not produce goods by itself. But the activities under this sector
help in the development of the primary and secondary sectors. These activities are an aid or
support for the production process. For example, transport, communication, storage, banking,
insurance, trade activities etc. For this reason this sector is also known as service sector
Question 10. What do you understand by disguised unemployment? Explain with an exampleeach
from the urban and rural areas.
Answer:
Disguised Unemployment is a kind of unemployment in which there are people who are visibly
employed but are actually unemployed. This situation is also known as Hidden Unemployment.In
such a situation more people are engaged in a work than required.
For example:

∙∙ ∙∙ In rural areas, this type of unemployment is generally found in agricultural sector like – in a
family of 9 people all are engaged in the same agricultural plot. But if 4 people are with drawn
from it there will be no reduction in output. So, these 4 people are actually disguisedly employed.
∙∙In urban areas, this type of unemployment can be seen mostly in service sectors such as in a
family all members are engaged in one petty shop or a small business which can be managed by
less number of persons.
Question 11. Distinguish between open unemployment and disguised unemployment.
Answer:
Open Unemployment Disguised unemployment
This is a kind of
unemployment in which
there are people who are
When a country’s visibly employed but
labour force do not get actually they don’t have
opportunities for full employment. In such
adequate employment, a situation more people
this situation is called are engaged in a work
open unemployment. than required.
This type of
unemployment is
This type of generally found in
unemployment is unorganized sector where
generally found in the either work is not
industrial sector of our constantly available or too
country. This is also many people are
found among the employed for the same
landless agricultural work that does not
labourers in rural areas. require so many hands.
Question 12. “Tertiary sector is not playing any significant role in the development of
Indianeconomy.” Do you agree? Give reasons in support of your answer.
Answer:
No, I do not agree with the statement that tertiary sector is not playing any significant role in the
 development of Indian economy.The tertiary sector has contributed vastly to the Indian economy,
especially in the last two decades. In the last decade, the field of information technology has grown,
and consequently, the GDP share of the tertiary sector has grown from around 40% in 1973 to
more than 50% in 2003.
Question 13. Service sector in India employs two different kinds of people. Who are these?
Answer:
The service sector in India employs the following two different kinds of people. They are:
∙∙ The people involved in the services that may directly help in the production of goods. For
example, people involved in the transportation, storage, communication, finance etc.
∙∙ The people involved in such services that may not directly help in the production of goods e.g.
teachers, doctors, barbers, cobblers lawyers etc. They may be termed as ancillary workers means
those who give services to the primary service providers.
Question 14. Workers are exploited in the unorganised sector. Do you agree with this view?
Give reasons in support of your answer.

Answer:
Yes, workers are exploited in the unorganized sector. This would be clear from the following
points:

• There is no fixed number of working hours. The workers normally work 10 – 12 hours without
paid overtime.
• They do not get other allowances apart from the daily wages.
• Government rules and regulations to protect the labourers are not followed there.
• There is no job security.
• Jobs are low paid the workers in this sector are generally illiterate, ignorant and unorganized. So
they are not in a position to bargain or secure good wages.
• Being very poor they are always heavily in debt. So, they can be easily made to accept lower
wages.
Question 15. How are the activities in the economy classified on the basis of employment
conditions?

Answer: On the basis of employment conditions, the activities in the economy are classified into
organized and unorganized sectors.
• Organized Sector This sector covers those enterprises which are registered by the government
and have to follow its rules and regulations. For example, Reliance Industries Ltd., GAIL etc.
• Unorganized Sector It includes those small and scattered units which are largely outside the
control of the government. Though there are rules and regulations but these are never followed
here. For example, casual workers in construction, shops etc. In this sector there is no job
security and the conditions of employment are also very tough.
Question 16. Compare the employment conditions prevailing in the organised and unorganized
sectors.
Answer:The employment conditions prevailing in the organised and unorganised sectors are vastly
different. The organised sector has companies registered with the government and hence, it offers
job security, paid holidays, pensions, health and other benefits, fixed working hours and extra pay
for overtime work. On the other hand, the unorganised sector is a host of opposites. There is no
job security, no paid holidays or pensions on retirement, no benefits of provident fund or health
insurance, unfixed working hours and no guarantee of safe work environment.
 Question 17. Explain the objective of implementing the NREGA 2005.
Answer:The objective of implementing the NREGA 2005 are:
• To increase the income and employment of people.
• Every state/region can develop tourism, regional craft, IT etc. for additional employment.
• The central government made a law implementing the right to work in 200 districts.
• NREGA aims to provide employment of 100 days. If it fails to do so, it will give unemployment
allowances to the people.
Question 18. Using examples from your area compare and contrast that activities and functionsof
private and public sectors.
Answer:
Some Samples of Work People Do and Their Classification
S. Nature of
No. Nature of work Activity Sector
Bank Clerk
Freelance
Cartoonist

Construction
Worker

Doctor in
1. AIIMS Tertiary Organized
2. Tertiary Unorganized
DTC Bus
3. Driver Secondary Unorganized

4. Farmer Tertiary Organized

5. Guest House Tertiary Organized

Receptionist
6. Primary Unorganized
Mine Worker
7. Tertiary Unorganized
Own Tailoring
8. Shop Primary Unorganized

9. Public Sector Tertiary Unorganized

Factory
10. Supervisor Secondary Organized
Question 19. Discuss and fill the following table giving one example each from your area.
Well managed organisationBadly managed organisation
Public sector

Private Sector
 Well-managed Badly-managed
organisation organisation
Public sector
Private sector
Answer:

Well-managed Badly-managed
organisation organisation
Delhi Metro Rail Air
Public sector Corporation India
Private sector Reliance Mobile Satyam
Question 20. Give a few examples of public sector activities and explain why the governmenthas
taken them up.
Answer: A few examples of public sector activities are provision of water, electricity and some
modes of transport. The government has taken these up because water and power are needed by
everyone. If the work of providing electricity and water is left to private enterprises, the latter might
exploit this opportunity and sell these at rates which the masses cannot afford. Hence, to ensure
that basic amenities like water and power are available for all, the government supplies these at low
and affordable rates.
Question 21. Explain how public sector contributes to the economic development of a nation.
Answer: In the following ways Public sector contributes to the economic development of a nation:
• It promotes rapid economic development through creation and expansion of infrastructure.
• It creates employment opportunities.
• It generates financial resources for development.
• It is ensuring equality of income, wealth and thus, a balanced regional development.
• It encourages development of small, medium and cottage industries.
• It ensures easy availability of goods at moderate rates.
Contributes to community development i.e. to the Human Development Index (HDI) via health
and educational services.

Question 22. The workers in the unorganised sector need protection on the following issues
:wages, safety and health. Explain with examples.
Answer:
The workers in the unorganised sector need protection:∙∙ Wages: Labourers who are employed as
repair person, vendor etc. do not have fixed income. They nearly manage to earn their living. They
are not employed all through the year.
• Safety: Workers in unorganized sector are not provided with safe drinking water or clean
environment. Eg., Working in mining, chemical industries is hazardous.
• Health: Leave not granted in case of sickness. Medical facilities are not offered, Eg.,
Construction workers.
Question 23. A study in Ahmedabad found that out of 15,00,000 workers in the city,
11,00,000worked in the unorganised sector. The total income of the city in this year(1997-1998)
was Rs 60,000 million. Out of this Rs 32,000 million was generatedin the organised sector. Present
this data as a table. What kind of ways shouldbe thought of for generating more employment in the
city?
Answer:
Organised Unorganised
– Sector Sector Total
No. of
workers 4,00,000 11,00,000 15,00,000
Income 32,000 28,000 60,000
(Rs) million million million
It is clear that while a larger portion of workers is working in the unorganized sector, the per capita
earning of those in the organized sector is more. The government should encourage the
entrepreneurs in the unorganized sector to change them into the organized sector. Moreover,
government should introduce some incentives so that more industries could be opened up in the
organized sector.

Question 24. The following table gives the GDP in Rupees (Crores) by the three sectors:
Year Primary Secondary Tertiary
1950 80,000 19,000 39,000

8,000 12,49,000 28,18,000

(i).Calculate the share of the three sectors in GDP for 1950 and 2011.

Answer: (i) In 1950,

primary sector = 57.97%, secondary sector = 13.77%, tertiary sector = 28.26%

In 2000,
primary sector = 27.33%, secondary sector = 24.37%, tertiary sector = 48.30%

(ii).Show the data as a bar diagram similar to Graph 2 in the chapter.

Answer: (ii)
Money and Credit

Barter System: The barter system was used before the advent of
money. People used to exchange one thing for another in this system.
Double Coincidence of wants: The double coincidence of wants is the
major drawback of the barter system. It can be very difficult to find a
person who can fulfill this condition. Suppose you want to barter your
MP3 player with a game console, then you need to find a person who
wants to barter his game console for an MP3 player.
Money
Money is a means by which we can get something in exchange. Initially,
coins came into use. The coins were initially made of precious metals;
like gold and silver. When the precious metals became too precious,
ordinary metals were being used for making coins. Paper money or
currency notes gradually took place of coins; although coins of smaller
denominations are still in use.
The currency notes and coins are issued by the government of an
authorized body. In India, the RBI (Reserve Bank of India) issues
currency notes. On the Indian currency note, you can find a statement
which promises to pay the bearer the amount which is mentioned on
the currency note.
Advantages of Money:

Removes the coincidence of wants.

Takes less storage space and is easier to carry.
Liquidity of currency is easier.
Now-a-days; many instruments are available through which it is not
necessary to physically carry the currency.
Other Forms of Money
Deposits with Banks: Most of the people need only some currency for
their daily needs. Rest of the amount is usually kept as deposit in
banks. Money which is kept in a bank is safe and it even earns an
 interest. One can withdraw money from his account as and when
required. Since deposit in the bank account can be withdrawn on
demand, these deposits are called demand deposits.
One can use a cheque; instead of cash to settle payments. Moreover,
one can also buy a demand draft from a bank to make payments.
Credit: Banks keep a small proportion of their deposits as cash with
themselves. This is usually 15% of their deposits as cash. This amount
is kept as provision to pay the depositors who may come to withdraw
the money on any day. This amount is enough because only a small
fraction of people come to withdraw money on a given day. The rest of
the amount is used by the banks to give money on credit to people who
need the credit. A bank charges interest on the loan which it gives to its
creditors. The interest rate charged by a bank no loans is higher than
the interest rate given by it on deposits. Thus, interest is the main
source of income for banks.
Credit/Debit Cards: Now-a-days, credit/debit cards are in vogue. A debit
card allows you to make payments from the amount which is lying in your
bank account. A credit card, on the other hand, provides money on
credit. Payment through credit/debit card is done electronically and this
removes the need of carrying cash.
Terms of Credit
People often need to borrow money for various purposes. Many
businessmen need to borrow to buy raw materials and machineries.
Many farmers need to borrow to buy seeds, fertilisers, farm
equipments, etc. People usually buy vehicles and houses by borrowing
from banks. Thus, credit plays an important role in the economy.
Every loan agreement specifies terms and conditions; regarding the rate
of interest and term of payment. In most of the cases, the banks fix an
EMI (Equated Monthly Installment) for repayment of loan.
Collateral: An asset which is owned by the borrower and is used as a
guarantee to a lender until the loan is repaid is called the collateral.
 Land, house, vehicle, livestocks, deposits with banks, insurance policy,
gold, etc. are examples of assets. If the borrower fails to repay the loan,
the lender reserves the right to sell the collateral to obtain payment.
Terms of Credit: The terms of credit include rate of interest, collateral
and mode of repayment. The terms of credit varies from one loan
agreement to another and also on the nature of the lender and the
borrower.

Terms of Credit
People often need to borrow money for various purposes. Many
businessmen need to borrow to buy raw materials and machineries.
Many farmers need to borrow to buy seeds, fertilisers, farm
equipments, etc. People usually buy vehicles and houses by borrowing
from banks. Thus, credit plays an important role in the economy.
Every loan agreement specifies terms and conditions; regarding the rate
of interest and term of payment. In most of the cases, the banks fix an
EMI (Equated Monthly Installment) for repayment of loan.
Collateral: An asset which is owned by the borrower and is used as a
guarantee to a lender until the loan is repaid is called the collateral.
Land, house, vehicle, livestocks, deposits with banks, insurance policy,
gold, etc. are examples of assets. If the borrower fails to repay the loan,
the lender reserves the right to sell the collateral to obtain payment.
Terms of Credit: The terms of credit include rate of interest, collateral
and mode of repayment. The terms of credit varies from one loan
agreement to another and also on the nature of the lender and the
borrower.
Sources of Credit
Formal Sector: The formal Sector comprises of banks and cooperative
societies.
 Informal Sector: The informal sector consists of money lenders and
friends and relatives, merchants and landlords.
The following diagram shows share of different sources of credit in
rural households in India in 2003.

While the formal sector is bound by the rules and regulations of the
RBI and charge the prevalent rate of interest as per RBI guidelines; the
informal lenders are not bound by such rules. The informal lenders
usually charge a very high rate of interest. A higher cost of borrowing is
often detrimental to the borrower. It usually results in a debt trap for
the borrower. The borrower is seldom able to escape the never ending
cycle of loan repayment.
Many people are too poor to qualify the requirements of credit-
worthiness of banks and cooperatives. There are many others who may
not have enough documents; like residential certificate or income
certificate. Such people are usually at the mercy of informal lenders.
Self Help Groups
Self Help Groups (SHGs) are recent phenomena. An SHG is
comprised of small number of people; like 15 – 20 members. The
members pool their savings. The collection is then utilised to lend
small amounts of money which may be required by any of the
 members. The group charges interest on the loan. The arrangement of
loans through Self Help Groups is also known as microfinance because
the small amount of loan is involved.
It was the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh which began experimenting
with microfinance. The founder of Grameen Bank, Mohammad
Yunus was conferred with Nobel Prize in 2006 for his efforts at
improving the lot of the poor.
SHGs have helped immensely in reducing the influence of informal
lenders in rural areas. Many big corporate houses are also promoting
SHGs at many places in India.
Question 1. In situations with high risks, credit might create further
problems for the borrower.Explain.
Answer:
In situations with high risks, credit might create further problems for the
borrower. This is also known as a debt-trap. Taking credit involves an
interest rate on the loan and if this is not paid back, then the borrower is
forced to give up his collateral or asset used as the guarantee, to the
lender. If a farmer takes a loan for crop production and the crop fails,
loan payment becomes impossible.To repay the loan the farmer may sell
a part of his land making the situation worse than before.Thus, in
situations with high risks, if the risks affect a borrower badly, then he ends
up losing more than he would have without the loan.
Question 2. How does money solve the problem of double coincidence
of wants? Explain withan example of your own.
Answer :In a barter system where goods are directly exchanged without
the use of money, double coincidence of wants is an essential feature. By
serving as a medium of exchanges, money removes the need for double
coincidence of wants and the difficulties associated with the barter system.
For example, it is no longer necessary for the farmer to look for a book
publisher who will buy his cereals at the same time sell him books. All he
has to do is find a buyer for his cereals. If he has exchanged his cereals for
money, he can purchase any goods or service which he needs. This is
because money acts as a medium of exchange.
Question 3. How do banks mediate between those who have surplus
money and those whoneed money?
Answer :
Banks keep small portiondeposits as cash (15%) for themselves (to pay
the depositors on demand). They use the major portion of the deposits to
extend loans to those who need money. In this way banks mediate
between those who have surplus money and those who need money.
Question 4. Look at a 10 rupee note. What is written on top? Can you
explain this statement?
Answer :
Reserve Bank of India” and “Guaranteed by the Government” are written
on top.
In India, Reserve Bank of India issues currency notes on behalf of the
central government. The statement means that the currency is authorized
or guaranteed by the Central Government. That is, Indian law legalizes
the use of rupee as a medium of payment that can not be refused in
setting transaction in India.
Question 5. Why do we need to expand formal sources of credit in
India?
Answer :We need to expand formal sources of credit in India due to:∙∙To
reduce dependence on informal sources of credit because the latter
charge high interest rates and do not benefit the borrower much.
∙∙ Cheap and affordable credit is essential for country’s development.
∙∙ Banks and co-operatives should increase their lending particularly in
rural areas.
Question 6. What is the basic idea behind the SHGs for the poor?
Explain in your own words.
Answer :The basic behind the SHGs is to provide a financial resource for
the poor through organizing the rural poor especially women, into small
Self Help Groups. They also provide timely loans at a responsible interest
rate without collateral.
Thus, the main objectives of the SHGs are:
∙∙ To organize rural poor especially women into small Self Help Groups.
∙∙ To collect savings of their members.
∙∙ To provide loans without collateral.
∙∙ To provide timely loans for a variety of purposes.
∙∙ To provide loans at responsible rate of interest and easy terms.
∙∙ Provide platform to discuss and act on a variety of social issues such
education, health, nutrition, domestic violence etc
Question 7. What are the reasons why the banks might not be willing to
lend to certain borrowers?
Answer :The banks might not be willing to lend certain borrowers due to
the following reasons:
∙∙ Banks require proper documents and collateral as security against loans.
Some persons fail to meet these requirements.
∙∙ The borrowers who have not repaid previous loans, the banks might not
be willing to lend them further.
∙∙ The banks might not be willing to lend those entrepreneurs who are
going to invest in the business with high risks.
∙∙ One of the principle objectives of a bank is to earn more profits after
meeting a number of expenses. For this purpose it has to adopt judicious
loan and investment policies which ensure fair and stable return on the
funds.
Question 8. In what ways does the Reserve Bank of India supervise the
functioning of banks?
Why is this necessary?
Answer :
The Reserve Bank of India supervises the functions of banks in a number
of ways:
∙∙ The commercial banks are required to hold part of their cash reserves
with their RBI. RBI ensures that the banks maintain a minimum cash
balance out of the deposits they receive.
∙∙ RBI observes that the banks give loans not just to profit making
businesses and traders but also to small cultivators, small scale industries,
small borrowers etc.
∙∙ The commercial banks have to submit information to the RBI on how
much they are lending, to whom, at what interest rate etc.
This is necessary to ensure equality in the economy of the country and
protect especially small depositors, farmers, small scale industries, small
borrowers etc. In this process RBI also acts as the lender of the last resort
to the banks.
Question 9. Analyse the role of credit for development.
Answer :
Cheap and affordable credit plays a crucial role for the country’s
development.There is a huge demand for loans for various economic
activities. The credit helps people to meet the ongoing expenses of
production and thereby develop their business. Many people could then
borrow for a variety of different needs. They could grow crops, do
business, set up industries etc. In this way credit plays a vital role in the
development of a country.
Question 10. Manav needs a loan to set up a small business. On what
basis will Manav decide
whether to borrow from the bank or the moneylender? Discuss.
Answer :
Manav will decide whether to borrow from the bank or the money lender
on the basis of the following terms of credit:
∙∙ Rate of interest
∙∙ Requirements availability of collateral and documentation required by
banker.
∙∙ Mode of repayment.
Depending on these factors and of course, easier terms of repayment,
Manav has to decide whether he has to borrow from the bank or the
moneylender.
Question 11. In India, about 80 per cent of farmers are small farmers,
who need credit for cultivation.
(a) Why might banks be unwilling to lend to small farmers?
Answer
1. Bank loans require proper documents and collateral as security against
loans. But most of the times the small farmers lack in providing such
documents and collateral. Besides, at times they even fail to repay the
 loan in time because of the uncertainty of the crop. So, banks might be
unwilling to lend to small farmers.
2. What are the other sources from which the small farmers can borrow?
Answer
(b) Apart from bank, the small farmers can borrow from local money
lenders, agricultural traders, big landlords, cooperatives, SHGs etc.
1. Explain with an example how the terms of credit can be unfavourable
for the small farmer.
Answer (c) The terms of credit can be unfavorable for the small farmer
which can be explained by the following –
Ramu, a small farmer borrows from a local moneylender at a high rate of
interest i.e. 3 per cent to grow rice. But the crop is hit by drought and it
fails. As a result Ramu has to sell a part of land to repay the loan. Now his
condition becomes worse than before.
1. Suggest some ways by which small farmers can get cheap credit.
Ans (d) The small farmers can get cheap credit from the different sources
like – Banks, Agricultural Cooperatives, and SHGs.
Question12. Fill in the blanks:
(i) Majority of the credit needs of the
__poor_______________households are metfrom informal sources.
(ii) ____high_______________costs of borrowing increase the debt-
burden.
(iii) ___Reserve Bank of India_______________ issues currency notes
on behalf of the CentralGovernment.
(iv) Banks charge a higher interest rate on loans than what they offer
on__deposits________.
(v) ____Collateral___________ is an asset that the borrower owns and
uses as a guaranteeuntil the loan is repaid to the lender.
Question13. Choose the most appropriate answer.
(i) In a SHG most of the decisions regarding savings and loan activities are
taken by
(a) Bank.
(b) Members.
(c) Non-government organisation.
Answer :(b) Members.
(ii) Formal sources of credit does not include
(a) Banks.
(b) Cooperatives.
(c) Employers.
Answer : (c) Employers
Globalisation and The Indian Economy

Globalisation:
The way in which the world economy is integrated in the modern world
is globalization. Take example of Microsoft. Microsoft is having its
headquarters in USA. This company is getting part of its software
developed in India and several other countries. And Microsoft’s
software is being used across the world. Another example can be Ford
motors based in USA. Ford is having manufacturing plants in Chennai
and cars manufactured in Chennai go for sale in other countries.
Moreover, company may be getting gear boxes produced in some other
country, seat belts from a different country, lights, rear view mirrors in
some other nation by some other company. Almost all the components
get supplied by various vendors to the Ford motor, which assembles
them to make the car.
All these activities help in generating employment opportunities across
the world. This in turn affects the world economy. You can think of
various activities in the step of final production of a product or a service
which take place around the world at different locations. This results in
interdependence of national economies around the world.
Development of Globalisation
Since early history global trade has been connecting mankind in myriad
ways. Silk route of early history helped in connecting Asia from the rest
of the world. This trade route not only facilitated movement of goods
but also movement of people and ideas. If zero traveled from India to
rest of the world then western clothes came to India. Nowadays the way
we relish eating pizza or noodles, people abroad are big fans of the
Indian curry and chicken tikka.
Early phase of globalization involved export of raw material from Asia
and import of finished products from Europe. But from mid twentieth
century things began to change.
 During mid to late twentieth century certain company’s became
multinationals as they spread their economic activities to various parts
of the world.

Causes of Globalisation:
Need of Cost Cutting: Suppose a company is having two options to get
a particular work done. The first option is to get it done in the home
country but cost involved will be higher. Next option is to get it done in
a different country at a lesser cost. Obviously any company will prefer
the second option. Labour cost and cost of certain raw materials are
cheaper in India, Malaysia, China and Taiwan. This results in reduced
cost of production, which will result in better profit for the company. So
you get a computer with certain parts manufactured in Taiwan or
Malaysia, processor manufactured in India and software supplied from
USA. The final product may get assembled in the market where it will
be ultimately used.
Need to find newer markets: If home market’s consumer base has
purchased a product and needs no more of it or little bit of it, then the
company has to plan to increase the business. This can be done by
finding newer markets with new consumer base. Especially in today’s
scenario when India and China constitute about one fourth of the world
population, any company which wants to get more business can’t ignore
these two markets. Try comparing it with your city or village. If
vegetables produced in a village can only be sold in that village then it
may not find many customers, resulting in low price and may be
wastage of vegetables. To get a better price from large customer base
the village vegetable grower needs to move to cities.
Results of Globalisation:
Better Employment Opportunities: At present India is the leader in
BPO sector. BPOs provide backoffice support to many MNCs. A
 customer calling in USA to sort out his problem may be talking to a call
centre employee in Gurgaon. Because of growing economic activities
many new centres of economic activity have developed in India. These
are Gurgaon, Chandigarh, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Meerut. Earlier
Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Delhi used to be major economic
centres.
Change in Lifestyle: Eating habits have changed dramatically. Now you
may be eating Kellog’s corn flakes for breakfast and Aloo Tikki Burger
for lunch. You may be wearing a Levi’s jeans and if you are having a
BPO employee as neighbour then you may have listened his accented
English.
Uneven Benefits of Development: For every MNC executive there is a
larger number of rickshaw puller and daily wage earner. There are still
millions who are unable to get two square meals in a day. We still hear
news of farmers committing suicide in Maharashtra and Karnataka.
Unfair Means Adopted by Developed Countries: Developed countries
still give huge subsidies to their farmers and impose heavy trade
barriers. In the bargain developed nations don’t get the desired benefit
out of WTO negotiations.

Conclusion:
Globalisation is a reality which is here to stay. Globalisation has given
more benefits than problems. The economists and policy makers of the
world need to fine tune their strategy so that benefits of globalization
can reach the masses. The ultimate success of globalization can only be
realized when it helps achieve all the parameters of development.
These parameters or goals of development are not only about monetary
income, but also about better healthcare, education, security and overall
quality of life for all.
Q.1 What do you understand by globalisation? Explain in your
own words?
Ans Globalisation:It means integrating the economy of a country with the
economies of other countries under condition of free flow of
trade,technology and capital.

Q.2 What was the reason for putting barriers to foreign trade and foreign
investment by the Indian government? Why did it wish to remove
these barriers?
Ans Reason behind putting barriers to foreign trade and foreign
investment by the Indian government was to protect the producers
within the country from foreign competition. Around 1991,the
government wished to remove these barriers because it felt that
domestic producers were ready to compete with foreign industries
&the public sector had become very corrupt and due to
globalization the government had adopted the policy of privatisation
and liberalisation globalization.

Q.3How would flexibility in labour laws help companies?

Ans Flexibility in labour laws help companies to cut down the cost of
production. Now instead of hiring workers on a regular basis
companies hire workers for short periods and this reduces the cost
of labour for the company.

Q.4 What are the various ways in which MNCs set up or control
production in other countries?
Ans Various ways through which MNCs set up or control production in
other countries are:
(i)They can open their own production unit.
(ii)By providing money for additional investment to local companies
for purchasing new machinery for faster production.
(iii)By collaboration & setting up partnership with local companies.
(iv)By purchasing or merging local companies.
(v)By closely competing with local companies.
Q.5 Why do developed countries want developing countries to liberalise
their trade and investment? What do you think should the
developing countries demand in return?
Ans Developed countries feel that all barriers to foreign trade and
investment are harmful for international trade. Countries like USA,
UK have high production capacity and latest technology. They want
their surplus produce to sell in other countries. Therefore they want
that developing countries should liberalise their trade and
investment.Developing countries should demand in return for fair
globalisation& protection of domestic producers which ensures
opportunities and benefits for all. Interest of the workers should also
be taken care of.

Q.6 “The impact of globalisation has not been uniform.”

Explain this statement.
Ans Whileglobalisation has benefitted the well off consumers and also
producers with skill ,education and wealth but many small
producers and workers have suffered as a result of the rising
competition,several units have shut down rendering many workers
jobless.

Q.7 How has liberalisation of trade and investment policies helped the
globalisation process?
Ans It facilitated import and export of goods easily and allowed foreign
companies to set up factories and offices in India. Competition also
helped in improving quality of the Indian products.

Q.8How does foreign trade lead to the integration of markets

across countries ?
Ans Foreign trade provides an opportunity to both producer and buyer
to reach beyond the market of their own countries. There is also a
huge competition among the traders/producers/MNCs in each
country. Each tries to export and import their products as per as
their own requirement. Foreign trade now plays an important role in
 integration of markets of different countries of the world because
there is a great competition among the producers of various
countries.

Q.9 Globalisation will continue in the future. Can you imagine what the
world would be like twenty years from now? Give reason for your
answer.
Ans Globalisation means connected & integrated of one’s economy with
other economy. If this process continues in future, we could imagine
the world:
(i)full of healthy competition.
(ii)Improved production with better standard of living and increased
volume of output.
(iii)There will be great mobilisation of labour across the world.